von Fircks

Blogs which describe people or events related to my paternal line.

Discrepancy in birth date

My paternal grandfather, Peter Julius Otto von Fircks, was born at Nurmhusen on 23 February 1876. At that time Nurmhusen, the Fircks family estate, was in Kurland, now Latvia. His name, date of birth and death, are recorded in the family tree composed by my cousin. My cousin was the

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Tied to the Ocean

“We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea… whether it is to sail or to watch – we are going back from whence we came.” John F Kennedy The ocean has played a part in the lives of both sides of my family. In

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The Wedding of the Dwarfs

I had a magical moment last night. I was looking for some of my parents’ documents and letters which I had put away, but I found so much more. Most of the paperwork I had shipped over to Melbourne after my father’s death is kept in tubs in the spare

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Writing and Reading about History

Until today it didn’t dawn on me that I am writing a memoir which could be termed historical. In my mind, my manuscript could be memoir or biography or autobiography or even creative non-fiction, but more than that, I haven’t thought about. My manuscript begins with the death of my

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How Astrology Affected My Father’s Life

I believe this quote from Wayne Dyer was very true of my father and the way he lived his life. My father didn’t often tell me stories of his childhood or youth but several times he told me the story of when his father decided to get astrological charts done

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Death sets us free – or does it?

This morning I attended one of the Melbourne Writers Festival “Therapy Couch” sessions where author Cate Kennedy was in conversation with Krissy Kneen. Krissy, an award-winning writer whose books I have never read, is in the process of writing a memoir and Cate, whose books I have also never read,

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