Kerry Uncle Journalist Alastair Forbes Dies at 87

[Algorem]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5021891,00.html

Saturday May 21, 2005 6:16 PM

LONDON (AP) - Alastair Forbes, a journalist who drew on his circle of high-society friends for contacts and an uncle of Sen. John Kerry, has died. He was 87.

Forbes died Thursday in a London hospital, his family said. No cause of death was given.

Born near London in 1918, Forbes was the son of James Grant Forbes, a lawyer from a well-known Boston family. Alastair's elder sister, Rosemary, was the mother of John Kerry, the Democratic contender in last year's U.S. presidential election. She died in 2002.

Forbes attended Cambridge University and served with the Royal Marines during World War II before embarking on a long and eventful career as a journalist and man about town...

[davidinalameda]

1. didn't he have some show on PBS

or was that another Brit named Alastair

it's hard keeping all them straight--they all look and sound alike

[TheCentepedeShoes]

3. I think that was

Alistair Cooke, Masterpiece Theater.

[davidinalameda]

4. like I said

they all look alike!

:bounce:

[Catt03]

2. George Bush's uncle too

Both are related to Forbes

[ConfuZed]

5. John kerry is related to George Bush?

[Catt03]

8. There are a lot of references ...here's one

that I found quickly...

Maternal family background
John Kerry's maternal grandfather, James Grant Forbes, was born in Shanghai, China, where the Forbes family of China and Boston accumulated a fortune in the opium and China trade. Forbes married Margaret Tyndal Winthrop, who came from a family with deep roots in New England history. Through her, John Kerry is related to four Presidents, including, ironically, George W. Bush (ninth cousin, twice removed), and to many of the royal houses of Europe. <1> (http://www.familyforest.com/Kerry_Bush_Cousins.html) <2> (http://msn.ancestry.com/landing/strange/bush4/tree.htm) <3>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Forbes_Kerry

As stated, there are other references that are more detailed.

[CTyankee]

6. which one? I am in CT and know some of them

would be interested to know!

[Olney Blue]

7. My sympathy to the Kerry family for their loss.