Disappointing Silence

"Having posted my queries, the wondering genealogist moves on."

That's a lie. You know it is. If I were near my computer, I would have checked every hour to see if my message to a fellow Janczak researcher had received a reply.

Clue: it hasn't. Yet. Nor has there been any answer to a query I posted on a genealogy forum.

Perhaps I'm too impatient. I will refocus my imploring mind by following the trail to a timely announcement I stumbled across yesterday. Timely, that is, because if I ever connect to the people I'm seeking—those researchers who are hopefully more closely related to the Walter Janczak I'm seeking than I am—I'd like to see if they are game to try a DNA test.

Of course, once a DNA test has been submitted, the fun has only begun. There is a lot to do to figure out how some of these matches connect to one's family tree. That's why I was delighted to discover that a new book has—finally—come out to address this precise issue.

Back in May, two genetic genealogy bloggers announced that they had co-authored a book which was due to make its appearance sometime in mid-summer. Back then the book, Genetic Genealogy in Practice, was featured on the blogs of co-authors Blaine Bettinger and Debbie Parker Wayne.

And then, we waited.

It must have been a little bird which told me the book was finally out. I saw something to that effect online yesterday, but can't find who it was that mentioned it. Doesn't matter. All that counts is that the National Genealogical Society's online store is the place to find Genetic Genealogy in Practice. For those who are members, be sure to log in before adding the book to your cart, or you'll pay the full $36.05 price.

Now that the word is out that their book is now available, as co-author Debbie Parker Wayne explained in her own blog, it's a volume aiming to help researchers "use DNA to solve genealogical problems."

I, for one, have lots of those—in particular, my latest puzzle over which Walter Janczak, if either, of the two Buffalo men who are candidates for the relationship to claim as my first cousin twice removed.

Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in promoting this book; my only interest is in bringing this useful volume to the attention of other researchers who may appreciate its content.