AJ Jacobs tracked down as many distant relations as he could,but would he beat the world record of 4500?“When his first request for an interview with former president George HW Bush was rejected, AJ Jacobs resorted to a desperate plea: “Couldn’t you effect it for family?” – pointing out that they were (distant) cousins.
The plea worked. Bush gave him an interview and even posed for a photo – an image that sits alongside others, or including Daniel Radcliffe,Olivia Munn, and Ricky Gervais, and in Jacobs’ new book,It’s All Relative. The book examines the promise and challenges of the world family tree – the dream of some geneticists and genealogists to put through (telephone) everyone who’s ever lived, be they Neanderthal or celebrity.
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Source: guardian.co.uk