Almost Famous

        I retired completely in November of 2018 and then started my family history research in earnest. I’ve searched through documents, interviewed relatives, connected with many people around the world and through it all I have not discovered any people of world wide acclaim. There are no blockbusting superstars or rock and roll legends. No Pulitzer Prize novelists nor fearless explorers who discovered previously unknown lands. We are however, not boring. There are a number of individuals throughout our family tree that have enjoyed some notoriety in the public eye.     

        Arlene’s Uncle, Louis Rubin was an optometrist by day but his love of theater and acting prompted him to invest in the Swift Mill Creek Dinner Theater in Petersburg, VA. He helped produce the musicals and plays that were presented there and he performed in many of them. He was also seen on the air in local commercials and appeared in many print ads in the newspaper.

        Arlene’s cousin, David Koff has done some acting and writing.and has appeared in several TV shows including the John Larroquette Show and The West Wing. He teaches improv and is the artistic director of Fake Radio, a group that recreates old radio programs on stage. Check them out at https://www.fakeradio.net/ . His most prestigious role is that of being father to his son Isaac, the cutest kid on earth.

         My son, Philip went to a concert by a musician called Girl Talk. At the end of the concert he and several other fans were invited to hop up on the stage and dance. Little did he know that Girl Talk was his third cousin, Greg Gillis and they have the same birthday one year apart.

         My cousin, Steve Ringold has performed all over the globe with several different groups. When my kids were small we actually saw Steve on Sesame Street as part of a clown school presentation. Most recently, Steve’s company, The Grand Falloons has been travelling around to schools in New York and New Jersey to present a program to school aged kids about how important it is to take care of the environment. www.grandfalloons.com is the place to check him out. He also appeared (unauthorized) on a poster for Brooklyn Borough which was placed in a Philadelphia subway station. My daughter Molly happened upon it and said “OMG that is cousin Steve!!!”

        Speaking of Molly, she appeared as the face of Temple University in the first “Temple Made” commercial. You can view it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgrNibhA8B0 She appears at the 25 second point.

        My grandfather once told me that a guy named Charles Levine was a cousin. Charles’ claim to fame was that he was the first passenger on a non stop flight across the Atlantic. His story isn’t as glamorous as the other guy with the same initials (Charles Lindbergh) but you can read the whole thing on wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_A._Levine . Trying to establish the connection between Charles and my grandfather Louis has been a challenge. There are several public trees on Ancestry which go way back to a Yehuda Levine who was born around 1726. He had several children but a son, Abram is most likely the 3 great grandfather to Louis (I haven’t confirmed that yet) and another son, Khaim was the 3 great grandfather of Charles. That would make Louis and Charles 5th cousins. We all would like to have a famous person in our family tree. I guess I will settle for an almost family member (5th cousin twice removed) who is almost famous.