"Victory has a thousand fathers and defeat is a lonely orphan." This is a paraphrase of a well known philosophy.

We are extremely proud of family members who have excelled and become professionals or wealthy businessmen. We manage to slip or drop these names into conversations and stand by in the radiant aura of their success. It is a truly human feeling to want to be coupled with "winners" in our society.

Let me list for you, my reader, some renowned American families in varied fields of accomplishment who are standouts in their chosen professions.

The Adams - John Adams and John Quincy Adams.

The Roosevelts - Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt.

The Tafts - William Howard Taft, Robert Taft.

The Kennedys - John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Ted Kennedy.

The Bushs - George and George W.

The Wyeths - N.C. Wyeth and Andrew Wyeth. The Barrymores - Lionel Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore, John Barrymore and the latest Lynn Barrymore. The Marx Brothers - Chico (Leonard), Harpo (Arthur), Groucho (Julius Henry), Gummo (Milton), Zeppo (Herbert).

The Alou family - Felix, Manny and Jesus.

What about the "Ne'er-do-Wells?" They are usually pushed into the background and only rarely are mentioned. They are family members also and deserve a word or two about their lives.

Donald Nixon - Richard Nixon's brother. He was reputed to have consummated an illicit deal with Howard Hughes. Supposedly the Watergate burglars were looking for the information the Democrats had on the president's brother.

Sam Johnson - He was Lyndon B. Johnson's brother and he was a hard-drinking Texan.

Billy Carter - Also a beer drinker (Billy Beer, a product that flopped.), who made a deal with Momar Khadaffi, which embarrassed his brother Jimmy at a sensitive political time. He "shot from the lip" and the press loved him as a counterpoint to his angelic brother.

Roger Clinton - Recently pardoned by his older brother William. He has served time on drug charges and also attempted to sell influence.

Hillary Rodham Clinton - Her two brothers Hugh Jr. and Tony were caught trying to sell presidential pardons.

The great and the not-so-great are often related as family members. I have never liked the term ne'er-do-well as it usually capsulizes a person's entire life and accomplishments. Many of the so-called ne'er-do-wells would have never been noticed or considered if they were not unfortunate enough to have famous siblings.

Editor's note: Gregg Greenberg, son of Stanley and Lorraine Greenberg, will be married on June 2 in Boston. Congratulations Gregg and Jennifer.