Good Evening Family Researchers and All Ship at Sea, Followers of my Little Egypt Heritage articles know that I have a respect for the late Sidney Harris, the Chicago Tribune Columnist. I often use a statement of his which I rather like ... "Things I Learned While Looking Up Something Else." While surfing last week I came across a website which thought that "he [Mr Harris] was a really ignorant individual if he spent the majority of his life looking up stuff and always getting lost along the way, never finding what he set out for in the beginning." Well, to each his own; however, I often get side-tracked because, like Mr Harris, I have an insatiable appetite for leaning new things. Why, just this week, from a cousin, I learned that one of my ancestors [a female line] possibly had eleven children. At least there were thirteen people living under one roof in 1820 Gallatan County. How many of you have heard or read Sharon DeBartolo Carmack??? She wrote: "You Can Write Your Family History" where she said, "There's no reason a fully documented family history can't read like a page-turning novel." "Bringing Your Family History to Life Through Social History" which shows one how to weave historical details into their genealogies to form a unique family history narrative. "Your Guide to Cemetery Research" that covers everything from cemetery and death-related terminology to clues offered by headstone art, and cemeteries' role in our culture and history. "Organizing Your Family History Search: Efficient & Effective Ways to Gather and Protect Your Genealogical Research" that shows the process of organizing family research, from filing to streamlining the process as a whole. "A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Female Ancestors: Special Strategies for Uncovering Hard-To-Find Information about Your Female Lineage" "The Family Tree Guide Book: Everything You Need to Know to Trace Your Genealogy Across North America" and "The Genealogy Sourcebook". There are more but these are those which come to my mind ... "off the top" ... so to speak. Those who are near enough to Carterville, Illinois please be aware that the GENEALOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 2003 Genealogy Conference and Book Fair Will be on Saturday, October 11, 2003 At John A. Logan College, Route 13 & Greenbriar Rd., Carterville, IL. Headliner will be: Lectures by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack and the GSSI annual Book Fair Both events will be in the new Conference Center To my dismay, I will not be able to make the ten hour drive to Carterville. While you are attending this wonderful event and listening [learning] from this wonderful speaker I will be giving a small group of 25 interested folks a set of lessons on finding internet sources and documenting them. Please stop by Cousin Mary Jo Moore's "booth" and say "hello" for me. Sincerely, Bill Oliver Little Egypt Heritage