Auntie's Attic!
Miss Kity's Family Crest
Meet Miss Kity's Ancestors
Matilde Serao (March 7, 1856 – 25 July 1927) (Miss Kity's aunt on her father's side), was a Greek-born Italian journalist and novelist. She was the founder and editor of Il Giorno, and she also wrote several novels.
Biography Matilde was born in the Greek city of Patras to an Italian father and a Greek mother. Her father had emigrated to Greece for political reasons.She worked as a schoolmistress in Naples, and later described those years of laborious poverty in the preface to a book of short stories called Leggende Napolitane (1881). She first gained renown as a result of the publishing of her Novelle, in a paper of Rocco de' Zerbi's, and later by her first novel, Fantasia (1883), which definitely established her as a writer full of feeling and analytical subtlety.
She spent the years between 1880 and 1886 in Rome, where she published her next five volumes of short stories and novels, all dealing with ordinary Italian, and especially Roman, life, and distinguished by great accuracy of observation and depth of insight: Cuore infermo (1881), Fior di passione (1883), La conquista di Roma (1885), La Virtù di checchina (1884), and Piccole anime (1883).
Dr. Alexander Paterson
The Bridge of Allan tourist information suggests that RLS often visited Strathallan Pharmacy (at 65 Henderson Street from 1857, founded in 1851). The pharmacist, Gilbert Farie, was supposedly an inspiration for Edward Hyde in Jekyll and Hyde. Visitors to Bridge of Allan can also see the Paterson Clock, a memorial to the local physician Dr Alexander Paterson. According to local tourist information, Dr Paterson’s interest in horticultural and botany, may have influenced Stevenson and inspired him to write Treasure Island (1883).
The Paterson Clan
Our Dear Relative, Will Rogers
Born in 1879 on a large ranch in the Cherokee Nation near what later would become Oologah, Oklahoma, Will Rogers was taught by a freed slave how to use a lasso as a tool to work Texas Longhorn cattle on the family ranch.
As he grew older, Will Rogers' roping skills developed so special that he was listed in the Guinness Book of Records for throwing three lassos at once: One rope caught the running horse's neck, the other would hoop around the rider and the third swooped up under the horse to loop all four legs.
Will Rogers' unsurpassed lariat feats were recorded in the classic movie, "The Ropin' Fool."
His hard-earned skills won him jobs trick roping in wild west shows and on the vaudeville stages where, soon, he started telling small jokes.
Quickly, his wise cracks and folksy observations became more prized by audiences than his expert roping. He became recognized as being a very informed and smart philosopher--telling the truth in very simple words so that everyone could understand.
After the 10th grade, Will Rogers dropped out of school to become a cowboy in a cattle drive. He always regretted that he didn't finish school, but he made sure that he never stopped learning--reading, thinking and talking to smart people. His hard work paid off.
Will Rogers was the star of Broadway and 71 movies of the 1920s and 1930s; a popular broadcaster; besides writing more than 4,000 syndicated newspaper columns and befriending Presidents, Senators and Kings.
For more information, visit Will Rogers' Official site at http://www.cmgww.com/historic/rogers/
Miss Kity was there!
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