My sons are growing up fast, and one of the things my wife has been having fun with is teaching them the concept of family.  She will ask them "who is a Henrion", "who is a Ross" (her maiden name), "who is a Holdwick" (my sister's married name).  They seem to be having a lot of fun with this, but are still baffled as to why their cousin will never have the same last name as them…unless they move to Kentucky.

The family tree on my father's side is truncated due to the fact that he spent a lot of his youth in an orphanage in the Midwest.  Personally, I know very little about his family history.  I was contacted by someone on Facebook awhile ago concerning my family ancestors and I was left to plead ignorance.  I do have a doppelganger on Facebook who lives in France and he seems to be much younger and cooler than me.

So I decided to start Googling the family name.

I found a Daphne Hardy Henrion who has a very cool story.  Apparently she worked on the English translation of Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon during 1939-40.  Being a close intimate of Koestler, she brought the manuscript to England and even suggested the name of the book. This according to Wikipedia…which of course is never wrong.

She took the name "Henrion" in 1947 when she married (well after the Koestler episode) which diminishes some of the coolness factor…but that point can be easily overlooked.

Darkness at Noon is a a dark and powerful book.  It pointedly shows the fallacy of blind obedience to ideology; in this case, communism.  Having read the book several times, it was fascinating to see the family name associated with it in some way.

Read the Wiki here

So I am claiming a piece of history.  From here on out Daphne Hardy Henrion will be my great-great-Auntie, which practically makes me a close confidant of Arthur Koestler.

Jealous?