Bloodline: Lehner->Leonard by Kristin Serafini

Bloodline: Lehner->Leonard gives a glimpse into the lives of some of my ancestors on my maternal grandfather's side. Through that line I am descended from German immigrants who arrived in America when it was still a collection of colonies. The book begins with Gorg Lehner (c.1749-1817), whose name was anglicized to George Leonard. Since I make work that features voices who have been silenced or ignored, I have set details from some of the Leonards' lives as a series of first person statements in chronological order. Together these voices show a people who, at one time or another, faced nearly every kind of circumstance. They were prosperous, destitute, heroes, and deserters. They were illiterate and bilingual. They were plastering contractors and university professors. They hunted skunk pelts to sell for 15_ a piece and built Hollywood movie sets. And now I get to be an artist.