Anne McCaffrey was a wonderful storyteller. I read a dozen of her books when I was in my twenties and still have them on my shelf 20 years later. I was just talking to my son about The White Dragon this past weekend as he was about to play the latest Zelda video game. In this incarnation of Zelda they start the story with a description of how Link forms a bond with a large bird that he can mount and fly.
I always form a connection with the authors that I read. Their words influence the person I am and will be. Today I wanted to find a closer connection.
Anne was born in Cambridge, Middlesex, MA - that makes her a local girl and one more thing for us to be proud of. I was hoping with names like McCaffrey and McElroy that I could find some good Irish or Scottish leads, unfortunately not. I did find that Anne's grandfather, George H. McCaffrey, was a Boston Police Officer. My father was also a Police Officer.
When in doubt I look for connections from my wife's side of the family. She's related to everyone. With a little research I found the Anne is my wife's 10th cousin once removed. One line of Anne McCaffrey's ancestry leads back to Thomas Perkins and Phebe Gould.
Thomas Perkins (1622-1686) & Phebe Gould (1620-1686)
Martha Perkins & John Lamson
Samuel Lamson & Sarah Kimball
Edward Lamson & Martha Whipple
Daniel Lamson & Anne Chard
Martha Lamson & John S Perkins
John L Perkins & Hannah Bleasby
Irene S Perkins & George H McCaffrey
George H McCaffrey & Anna McElroy
Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011)
This coming Thanksgiving break will be a good time for my son to put away the video games and pick up a good book written by his cousin Anne.
Beautiful tribute!
ReplyDeleteIn junior high (around '87-'89), I met Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern. I became such a fan that I wrote her letters, and she always answered with encouragement, since I wanted to be a writer too. She will be missed and her worlds will always live on. :)
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