Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purposes of review and I have received other books from Genealogical Publishing Company, also for review. I am also a blogging friend of Cheri Hudson Passey. However, my opinions are my own and not influenced by outside sources.

It isn’t true that genealogists only go digging for dead ancestors, particularly now that DNA testing is so widespread. More and more frequently, researchers find the need to contact living descendants, but have little information about a person and are unsure about the next step past an obituary.

Cheri Hudson Passey’s newly published book, Genealogy in Reverse: Finding the Living, A Practical Guide for All Genealogists will help!

Table of Contents

About the Author
Preface
Methodology
Chapter 1: Building a Solid Foundation
Chapter 2: Looking for Clues in Records
Chapter 3: Researching Online
Chapter 4: Researching on Location
Chapter 5: People Finders and Social Media
Chapter 6: Reaching Out to Family
Chapter 7: A Word About DNA
Chapter 8: Working Through a Soldier Repatriation Case: Steps for Finding Living Family
Conclusion
Tools and Resources for Genealogy in Reverse

Genealogy in Reverse . . . is a compact little book, just 54 pages in all, that guides researchers through an efficient effective process that will help ensure success that the correct living person or family has been found.

It’s not only quick reading, but the way the material is organized by chapter, it’s an excellent reference guide detailing how to approach the research problem. The reader can easily identify the chapter providing the help needed.

I do have a few suggestions for an updated book, even though this one is hot off the press.

1. Many genealogy-oriented books include software screen shots, so this comment actually applies to many publications. The grayed-out images are very difficult to read when they take up less than a half page. I have 20/20 near vision and I need a magnifying glass to read images on pages 12 and 13. It’s nice to have an image for reference, but it defeats the purpose if it’s too small to read. Luckily, there are only a very few of these screenshots in the book. The other images definitely enhance the text and the reader’s understanding.
2. I would love to see expanded details in the online search options. For example, on page 34, Google’s Reverse Photo Search tool is mentioned, but when more than one website is available, there is a better chance for success. Tineye.com is another free Reverse Photo Search tool.
3. I spend a lot of time searching for living people. I troll websites looking for vintage photos to return to descendants. I helped my high school reunion committee find 25+ missing classmates and I try to locate distant cousins to correspond and share information. Had I been a less experienced researcher, I would have liked to have had much more detailed information about the living people finding websites/databases. For example, I know from experience that BeenVerified yes is searchable, but it takes a few minutes to run, the user has to submit his/her email and name and then wait some more for it to finish running the search. The process takes about 5 minutes per search. After all the waiting, the user has the opportunity to give a credit card to access reports, so it isn’t free. A message is sent to your email letting you know results are ready with another opportunity to sign up and pay. By far, the most useful site is FamilyTreeNow.com and it is always totally free, but tips for best searching could be given. Another general tip for those database sites is that “Associates” are often business dealings, usually real estate sales.

Overall, Cheri Hudson Passey’s book is an excellent tool for those wanting to learn more about finding living people and it’s priced very reasonably.

It can be purchased online from Genealogical.com as an ebook ($13.50) or in paperback ($19.95) or through Amazon Prime.