I grew up in Peoria, Illinois and in Minnesota where I went to high school at Shattuck-St. Mary's School. I earned my B.A. from Bradley University and spent a year abroad at Université Rennes 2). I have master's in Migration and Refugee Studies from the American University in Cairo.
Fueled by my interest in genealogy, I started a list of relatives with entries on Wikipedia when I was new to the site. I update it occasionally:
- Zach McAllister, my second cousin, Major League pitcher
- Ryan Owens, my double fourth cousin, once-removed, Navy SEAL
- Michael Collins, my second cousin thrice-removed, Irish revolutionary leader
- Margaret Collins-O'Driscoll, my second cousin thrice-removed, Irish politician
- Charles E. Bowles, my second cousin thrice-removed, Mayor of Detroit
- Charles S. Deneen, my second cousin thrice-removed, Governor of Illinois & US Senator
- Seán Collins, my third cousin twice-removed, Irish politician
- Dervla Kirwan, my fifth cousin, Irish actress
- Mary Banotti, my fourth cousin once-removed, European Parliament representative
- Taylor Eigsti, my double fifth cousin once-removed, jazz pianist
- Jason Beghe, my fifth cousin once-removed, actor
- Niels Hansen, my fifth cousin once-removed, German Ambassador to Israel & author
- Johann Hofer, my first cousin five times-removed, German revolutionary
- Nora Owen, my fourth cousin once-removed, Justice Minister of Ireland
- Howard Zehr, my fourth cousin twice-removed, Professor & Author in the field of Restorative Justice
- Charles Pettit, my first cousin seven times-removed, lawyer, merchant, and delegate to the Continental Congress
- Nathaniel Pettit, the brother of my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, judge and politician in Upper Canada
- Carl Zehr, a distant cousin, Mayor of Kitchener, Ontario
- Renato Beghe, the husband of my fourth cousin twice-removed, US Tax Court judge
- Anthony Janszoon van Salee, my purported 11th great-grandfather, supposedly one of the first Muslims in New Amsterdam
- Jan Janszoon, my purported 12th great-grandfather, a Dutch pirate
Other miscellaneous family history-related links:
- Budd Lake in Michigan, named for my relatives
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