Who is your most famous, infamous, or interesting relative?

[lost in space]

The most interesting person I knew was my wife's late father. He was a physicist; taught at Kansas University for decades. One of his summer research projects was to find the temperature of the moon's surface using red shift, back in the 60s. He was almost finished when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. He was also an accomplished violinist, playing from the age of 6 until a stroke at the age of 92. He was an avid birdwatcher and traveler. When the weather was bad in Kansas, he and his wife went down to the apartment they kept in Mexico. He designed and built a synthesizer for a violin. Late in life as a widower, he went blind, but still entertained. He was the kindest man I ever met, and was the quintessential absent-minded professor.

[RgrF]

My lineage is well enough known that none of us would ever attempt to write or publish under the family name. Some have published under pseudonyms but never achieved more than the fact they actually became published.

[Buzz]

My great, great grandfather was also the great grandfather of one of TV’s greatest, if not the greatest, detective.....

Should be royalty around here for inspiring perhaps Leader’s most anticipated line during almost every MacWorld Expo he presented at....

So how good of a detective are you...? Can you name the famous line?
==

[GGD]

Buzz wrote:
So how good of a detective are you...? Can you name the famous line?
==

[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

[Bill in NC]

Had a Revolutionary War relative who operated a ferry taking anyone who could pay, British or Continental soldier, like the guy in the film "The Outlaw Josie Wales"

[Mike Sellers]

John Lennon...immigrated here in the early 1700s. Yeah, not THE John Lennon but who knows?

We all go back to the same pair of monkeys at some point.

[tuqqer]

davemchine wrote:
Does booze running during prohibition count? They did a little time.

Ha! This is awesome. I've always had a fascination for the non-violent rule breakers. I'd rather have a connection to one of those than the politicians/actors.

Both my parents were single children, so no direct aunts, uncles cousins. 23andMe says the lineage is mainly Swede and northern European with a lot of action across that North Sea.

[Beam Me Up Scotty]

I think I have everyone beat here. This is my second cousin:

Greg Scarpa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Scarpa

"Gregory Scarpa Sr. (May 8, 1928 – June 4, 1994) nicknamed The Grim Reaper and also The Mad Hatter, was an American capo and hitman for the Colombo crime family and an informant for the FBI. During the 1970s and 1980s, Scarpa was the chief enforcer and a veteran hitman for Colombo boss Carmine Persico. Scarpa committed three murders in 1991 and is suspected to have committed a minimum of 80 murders from the early 1950s to 1992. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1993 for murder, and died in prison on June 4, 1994. Scarpa is believed by the FBI to have murdered 100 to 120 people."

D & C

[NewtonMP2100]

....Benedict Arnold [ don't hold it against me ]......

[Ombligo]

davemchine wrote:
Does booze running during prohibition count? They did a little time.

My uncle (with Dad's assistance on occasion) ran booze from Canada across the lower tip of Lake Huron during prohibition. I forgot about that until your post.