Word: ancestors
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Dolls & Toy Soldiers. Alexandre was brought up on the French Riviera. Born Alexandre Raimondi, he claims descendance from a general who fought against Napoleon in the Italian campaign. Though he has carefully preserved the sabre and other military relics of his illustrious ancestor, Alexandre says: "From a very early age, I preferred dolls to toy soldiers, dolls whose hair I could work up into curls and chignons." Shortly after World War II he was discovered by the Begum Aga Khan, having already won a local reputation as "The King of the Egg Shampoo"; the Begum passed...
...Peter Thompson, actually a carpenter and builder living near Regent's Park in the 1840s, not only forged 17th century "master drawings," but also invented the master. He named the man Captain John Eyre, and after picking a onetime lord mayor of London, Simon Eyre, as a likely ancestor, wrote a convincing biography and genealogy of him. Eyre, according to Thompson, was born in Blakewell in 1604, died 40 years later as a result of wounds suffered at the battle of Marston Moor. He supposedly spoke French and Spanish fluently, was "proficient in music," turned out at least...
Some of the author's ideas are first-rate. A blackmailer shows up, for instance, with the information that the matriarch of the clan, who is very lineage-conscious, did indeed have an ancestor who sailed on the Mayflower-but who jumped ship at Plymouth, England, because the weather was unpleasant. And there is a married couple who feud by doing each other's chores-she shines his shoes, and in riposte he Duzzes her undies. Invention of this sort is too much trouble, however, and for the most part the author amuses himself with the same...
George Apley may have been a snob-but he also had something for which his creator had undisguised admiration: "Essential and undeviating discipline of background." Wickford Point came even closer to home. It was the story of a popular writer, a Harvard graduate, reacting against the decadence and futile ancestor worship of his tumble-down New England family. And if the hero had the unmistakable air of the author himself-the pipe-smoking, tweedy, dressed-by-Brooks-Brothers blueblood-the hero's family was also unquestionably Marquand...
...ancestor hunters, the British Travel and Holidays Association will recommend professional genealogists or will complete the title search in advance and arrange a visit to ancestral homes. More than 60 French châteaux have been converted to accommodate tourists in the formidable ducal splendor of the 1 3th and 15th centuries at prices ranging from $16-$40 per day for a double, including meals. For the ultimate in converted castles: the Sportsman's Club at Mittersill, Austria. Once-only guests are accepted at $40 to $50 per night for the privilege of trout fishing and hunting...