And, on a personal level, "a distant grandfather of sorts".
In the first of Gertrude Chandler Warner's popular "Boxcar Children" series, Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny Alden are introduced as orphans on the run from the authorities and a distant grandfather.
If Duchamp is the distant grandfather of contemporary appropriation art, Warhol is its more recognizable father, though his brand of appropriation was quite different from that of "Fountain".
Alas, poor Maggy, whose only relation is a distant, rich grandfather, is spoiled, deceitful, and destructive.
Two weeks of exploring my grandmother's line led me to distant great-grandfathers who were conquistadors in New Spain, one who searched fruitlessly for El Dorado.
One of his distant great-grandfathers (she could not say how many greats) was Thomas Kirby, a mill mechanic who arrived from England in 1634 and prospered as a farmer in Virginia.
Others led me to ancestors in the south of Spain and in Segovia, home of Diego Arías Dávila, my distant great-grandfather, who was the wealthy royal treasurer for Enrique IV, the king of Castile and León and the half-brother of Queen Isabella, who succeeded him.
Percy was a 2nd great-grandson of King Edward III - meaning that King Edward is also a distant great-grandfather of Catherine Middleton.
His sister, Marina, who has published a memoir denouncing their distant, coldly manipulative grandfather, found Pablito haemorrhaging his corroded intestines: talk about reality being torn apart!
One time, a distant cousin of Bella's grandfather had come to visit, bringing with him his granddaughter, who was Bella's age.
Steve Dickey also said his grandparents would tell him that the great Yankee catcher Bill Dickey was a distant cousin of his great-grandfather.
