<----related to Rob Roy

 

My late great uncle worked for RCA in the 30s and 40s. He helped in the development of some of the first all electronic televisions. He was a member of the RCA engineering team that created the world's first electronically scanned color television. Later in his career he worked on the electronic systems for a moon lander (I don't know many details).. and now subsequently, my last name is printed on a piece of material somewhere on the moon.

My grandfather, whom I'm partially named after, was a professor at several law schools including Duke, Yale, NYU, Vanderbilt and was the dean of UC Hastings School of Law. He has written countless papers and books which are now considered classic. His work has been cited in the decisions of many court cases including one I'm aware of at the state supreme court level, and cited I imagine hundreds of times in subsequent papers. He is without a doubt the most intelligent man I will ever come across.

He's told me some pretty intense stories about fighting the Japanese in the Pacific War, where he served in the infantry. He has met multiple presidents, and has traveled the world for free as the guest of foreign diplomats. Why he was invited to Russia I do not recall.. but he drank a lot of vodka and ate a lot of sausage.

I am also the descendant of an American Indian princess.. unfortunately I don't have enough blood to get a chunk of any casino revenue.

 

It was never proven but my mother's uncle was suspected of killing 2 of his sisters to gain majority ownership of our family's hotel on Lake Hopatcong in New Jersey, the Lake View Hotel. They both fell down the stairs on separate occasions, one died, the other wound up in the hospital and was recovering. Every time he visited her she took a turn for the worse. Cyanide poisoning was the ultimate suspected cause of death.

After gaining ownership he later signed over control to a sneaky woman he was dating, and soon after their relationship fell apart and she kept the hotel. My mother grew up there spending her summers there running the prominent hotel with her family but never saw it again. It later burnt down. We have some photos of it that we came across last November when my grandmother died including the original slave quarters which later became short term housing for hotel staff. Each of the rooms in there were smaller than my current bathroom.

Here's an article from the 1800's in the New York Times about the place, unrelated to the later suspicious events: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html...9619C94649ED7CF


So that's my claim to fame. Also, my uncle used to write speeches for Reagan.

 

In 1993 and 1994 I lived in Allamuchy, NJ. One of our friends there taught at an elementary school in Lake Hopatcong.

That's weird!

 

One of my relatives on my mother's side was a member of the Waffen SS in WWII - my brother still has his dagger.

My grandfather was asked to spy by the Canadian government during WWII while on business in Europe and the UK.

My uncle found a fluid flow phenomenon that did not appear to adhere to Bernoulli's Equation while researching and developing a particle impact drill bit that used high pressure fluid to deliver steel shot against a rock formation to increase drill penetration rates. He has been offered a number of honorary engineering degrees from a number of universities based on his work in fluids.

I'm still working on my claim to fame.

 

My great unlce flew P-38 lightnings in WWII. Shot down twice doing bomber escort duty over Italy. Captured the second time and spent the last few months of the war in a prison camp.

Died this year. RIP.

My grandfather was a senator in our state legislature and authored a bill making the common loon the state bird.

Woo hoo, suck on that one!!!!!


And I had a hot bar maid cousin who dated Vida Blue for a couple years. She likes dark meat. They were engaged but he would not quit the coke so she walked. Got a nice new Fiero from him. Fiero. Awesome.

 

I once owned the same sports car that MC Hammer owned...S2000.

 

Very cool! At some point I'll take a drive down there and see the site where the hotel used to stand, and where my mother, uncle and grand parents spent so many years.