Patricia Ellen Redman Fuller published The Story of Us: A Redman–Nathanson Family History with Modern Memoirs in 2024. This Assisted Family History took four months to complete. We asked Fuller to reflect on what the publication process was like for her, and what it has meant to share her book with others.
1. According to your book, you did not discover your passion for family history until you were in your 60s, after your parents’ deaths. What was it that sparked your interest at that time?
Patricia Fuller: After my father died in 2008 (my mother had died in 2007), I realized that I was now The Oldest Generation. Someone had to take responsibility for keeping the family legacy alive. At that time, I really knew very little about my ancestors. I decided to log onto Ancestry.com and start a family tree. When I entered a name, “hints” popped up from Ancestry’s myriad databases: records, documents, even newspaper articles. I was hooked! And the rest is (family) history!
2. Your book includes many stories about your immigrant grandparents and your parents’ younger years. How did you uncover that information if your parents were already gone?
“Genealogy is all about connection…I know now that I am part of a large and dynamic system that will continue long after I am gone. It’s a very comforting feeling.”
Patricia Fuller: I started with the bits and pieces I had gleaned from my parents and other relatives over the years. For example, years before, I had asked my parents what towns in Europe their ancestors had come from. My mother said “Kovno” and my father said “Karpinen.” At the time, those names meant nothing to me. For some reason, I wrote those two words down on an orange Post-It-Note which I kept in my wallet for years. When I decided to start my genealogical research, I found that note in my wallet, and that’s where I started!
3. What inspired you to have your siblings contribute chapters about their own families?
Patricia Fuller: I always planned to have a section on each of my siblings. When I started writing my sister Nancy’s section, it dawned on me that she knew much more about herself and her life than I did and could do a much better job. All of my siblings are wonderful writers, much better than I am. So, I asked them if they would write their own sections, and they all said yes. It allowed them to contribute to a book that was as much about them as it was about me. And I actually learned a lot about their lives that I had not known before!
4. The title, The Story of Us, conveys a connection between the lives of your ancestors and their descendants today. How would you describe that connection?
Patricia Fuller: Genealogy is all about connection, both horizontal and vertical. Through my genealogical research I have helped to uncover and preserve those connections. Horizontally, I have discovered cousins on all the branches of my tree that I never knew I had, and have brought them all together through e-mail lists and even a Zoom reunion in one case. Vertically, I have traced the branches of my family back to their roots in Eastern Europe and forward to the youngest generations all across America. I know now that I am part of a large and dynamic system that will continue long after I am gone. It’s a very comforting feeling.
5. For the cover of your book, you supplied a vintage postcard of a town in Lithuania where some of your family originated. What was your reaction to the resulting cover created by our Book Designer Nicole Miller?
Patricia Fuller: I was absolutely thrilled by the cover! It conveyed exactly what I was trying to convey, and it is beautiful! The color scheme even reflected the colors of the Lithuanian flag. I didn’t know the name of the designer, but now that I do, I would like to thank Nicole Miller (and the entire staff of Modern Memoirs) for transforming my vision into reality without ever even meeting me in person!
Liz Sonnenberg is staff genealogist for Modern Memoirs, Inc.