Hi Everyone, Thought I would pass this on. I'm looking forward to the PBS series on Ancestors. And, since the story I wrote about discovering the last surviving child of my wife's grandfather's brother and the subsequent unplanned, but wonderful, visit of her Italian relatives is one of the 101 stories in the book. Ken xxxxx Dear Book Contributors, I wanted to tell you the latest and greatest on the show and the book. The PBS series, Ancestors, has been delayed slightly to a launch date of June 1st. It will be 13 half-hour episodes, most likely one a week, so the series should run all the way to early Fall. I say "most likely" only because the local PBS stations make their own decisions about airing dates and times. I'm part of the team working on the Ancestors website and once it's up, one of the features will be a search function that allows you to look up when the show is airing in your area. I don't think the site will be launched until May, though. Probably a safe way to be able to link into the new site when it does appear would be to go to http://www.kbyu.org and click in the left margin on Ancestors. There's already a brief overview of the 13 episodes there and I would think that it will provide a pass-through to the final site when it's ready. BTW, I'm obviously biased(!), but I've seen rough cuts of 11 of the 13 episodes and I think this is going to be a wonderful series. Please do try to watch at least a few episodes. They're a combination of personal stories, how to, experts, and man on the street -- and the filming was done all over the country and in England, Ireland, France, Russia, and Hong Kong. A few of you receiving this are actually in the series and I'm sure you'll all be pleased with your episodes. I know I'm very happy with the one I'm in. Those editors are very kind! Concerning the book, there's a little confusion. They decided not to delay its release for the series, so the official release date is April 10th. Having said that, I already have reports of it showing up in bookstores (mostly large ones) from Denver to Virginia Beach and of amazon.com already shipping it. I just received the copies that I ordered and have started sending out a courtesy copy to each of you. Unfortunately, I'm a one-man show in this regard, so it may take a couple of weeks to get them all out, but I know at least one of you has already received her copy. Keep an eye on your mail box! It's coming soon. I wanted to tell you also that I have created a personal website to go along with the book. Because of the book trickling out earlier than expected, I've had to launch it prematurely with some kinks still in it, but it's not too far off from what I hope it will be. If you're interested, please have a look at: honoringourancestors.com Among other things, the site has my book tour schedule (although I still need to add my newly set Utah dates). So far, I'm going to be in VA, MD, NY, RI, and UT -- and I'd love to meet you if I'm in your neighborhood. Please consider coming and possibly participating. If there are no objections, I will probably follow this up with another message with some small measures you could take if you're willing to help get the word out about the book. For now, if you like it when you get it, I just ask that you tell others about it and/or consider going to amazon.com (search under "In Search of Our Ancestors" or "Smolenyak") and ranking it. Thanks once again for your help, your willingness to share, and your patience. I'm sure this has seemed like a long process, but it's finally producing some fruit! Take care, Megan Megan Smolenyak <Megan_Smolenyak@compuserve.com> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Author of In Search of Our Ancestors 101 Stories of Serendipity and Connection in Rediscovering Our Family History Companion book to PBS Ancestors series book available now/series in June 2000 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*