A friend of ours has a hobby doing genealogy, and we found out that we were cousins in the ninth degree, that we had a common ancestor on the Mayflower.

Meaning of the quote

This quote is talking about how a friend of the writer discovered that they were distant cousins, meaning they share a common ancestor a long time ago. Specifically, they found out they were "cousins in the ninth degree," which means they are related but very distantly, like 9 generations back. They also discovered that their common ancestor lived on the Mayflower, a famous ship that brought some of the first European settlers to America.

About Marion Zimmer Bradley

Marion Zimmer Bradley was an American author known for her fantasy and science fiction works, including the Arthurian novel The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series. She was noted for her feminist perspective, but her reputation was tarnished after her children revealed that she was involved in child sexual abuse.

More about the author

More quotes from Marion Zimmer Bradley

I’ve been a schoolteacher. I always try to get the kids to finish talking before the next one starts.

Marion Zimmer Bradley

American novelist and editor

He used to sit on my lap. I was sort of ambivalent about that. He was surviving any way he could.

Marion Zimmer Bradley

American novelist and editor

It has never been, and never will be easy work! But the road that is built in hope is more pleasant to the traveler than the road built in despair, even though they both lead to the same destination.

Marion Zimmer Bradley

American novelist and editor

I wasn’t a child at 13, were you?

Marion Zimmer Bradley

American novelist and editor

My husband and I were very in love, and I had no reason to suspect that his interests lay anywhere else.

Marion Zimmer Bradley

American novelist and editor

I never thought that I was very intelligent.

Marion Zimmer Bradley

American novelist and editor

A babe at the breast is as much pleasure as the bearing is pain.

Marion Zimmer Bradley

American novelist and editor

I do tend to lose track since the kids are out of school.

Marion Zimmer Bradley

American novelist and editor

On one occasion I shared a bed with about seven other people, but we were all having a party overnight.

Marion Zimmer Bradley

American novelist and editor

A friend of ours has a hobby doing genealogy, and we found out that we were cousins in the ninth degree, that we had a common ancestor on the Mayflower.

Marion Zimmer Bradley

American novelist and editor

We were discussing civilization and the fact that young men among the Greeks at that time were idiots and uneducated, so the men had emotional and friendly relationships with members of their own sex.

Marion Zimmer Bradley

American novelist and editor

Science fiction encourages us to explore… all the futures, good and bad, that the human mind can envision.

Marion Zimmer Bradley

American novelist and editor

The scandal’s so unbelievable that I cannot repeat it here.

Marion Zimmer Bradley

American novelist and editor