GENETIC page 7 weren't here," Mrs. Starkman said. "And then I got hooked." Down the road in Oak Park, genealogist Phillip Applebaum tells a similar story of curiosity turned to lifelong pursuit. He was a teen-ager, boning up on the history of the British roy- al family, when he began to won- der about his own family. "I began asking my father about our own family history," Mr. Applebaum recalled. His Polish-born parents survived the Holocaust in Soviet prison camps. The rest of the family perished. "At that point, I relied on my father as my sole source of in- formation. There were no other relatives," said Mr. Applebaum, whose mother died when he was a teen. These days, Mr. Applebaum, 44, has turned his childhood fas- cination into business and book deals, including one with former oil executive and Republican Party activist Max Fisher on his family history. "Basically, most people want to know where they come from," Mr. Applebaum said. "You look at your ancestors and what they did and a little bit of them is in you." For Jews, genealogy has become a way to put the pieces of their heritage back together. "Jews have really taken genealogy and run with it because so many Jews, have a break in that fam- ily history; they have the Holocaust and that conti- nuity has been broken," Mr. Applebaum said. Genealogists say know- ing about your how your ancestors lived helps you better understand your own life. "Everyone wants to know why he is good at what he is good at and why he does the things he does,"' said James Grey, a Farmington Hills genealogist and treasurer of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Michigan. An accountant by pro- fession, Mr. Grey also runs a help-service for am- ateur genealogists called Genetrex. It's the only listing under genealogy in the North Woodward phone book. Most who call want to know how to conduct their own ances- tral hunt. But then Above: Genealogist systematically collect- there's the occasional Jim Grey preserved ed records for the past oddball, Mr. Grey said, his grandparents' century — including ketubah. like the woman who those of Eastern Euro- sought to have her pean Jewry. genes mapped so she Mr. Grey also uses Left: Betty Provizer could identify the father Starkman: Detective the Internet to search of her unborn child. Mr. and share information. and historian. Grey told her he was a "I liken genealogy to genealogist, not a ge- a jigsaw puzzle with no neticist. boundaries," Mr. Grey said. Mr. Grey, 52, has about 3,300 "And that's what makes the hob- ancestors dangling from his by so challenging, because it nev- own family tree. Many of them er has an end." ❑ he found on microfilm at the Family History Library of the Mormon Church, which has 20 % off everyday 20 % off everyday 20% C/D LLJ Cr) CC LOCATED IN THE ORCHARD MALL 6385 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD AT MAPLE WEST BLOOMFIELD MI 48322 810.855.4488 LU LLJ 8 MONDAY - TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY FRIDAY - SATURDAY 10 AM - 5:30 PM THURSDAY 10 AM - 8 PM and an ever changing selection of outstanding hand crafted items for yourself, your home, and gift giving If you're considering building a new home we invite you to inquire about our New Construction services: from pre-planning your purchase agreement, to blue print review, from specifications, and selections, to cabinetry design, from hardware choices to finished trim... these are the details to make a house your home 32506 Northwestern Highway Farmington Hills, MI • (810) 851-7540