Special Relatives First Update
Thank you to all subscribers!
I have to be honest. I haven’t been thinking much about writing this first update. It doesn’t mean I didn’t want to! I do! The problem is two-fold: first, I’d rather be writing some chapter in my book, and second, there is so much to tell that I haven’t given thought to where to start. So, how about if we just wing this first one, then as we gain momentum, things will get better.
That said, I’ll remind you why I am writing the book. While many biographies consider Einstein’s year with the Wintelers as pivotal, few have explored the deep relationship that started when the 16-year-old joined their household in 1895. I want to reveal how Einstein’s mentor, Jost Winteler, played a pivotal role in nurturing his genius during his year with the Winteler family. I want to uncover the hidden history of Einstein’s lifelong connections with the Wintelers, revealing a more human side of the scientist—particularly his complex relationships with the four Winteler women. Even to me, much of what happened almost sounds like a fictional story: love and lies, marriage and murder, happiness and heartbreak, devotion and deception. It all orbits while Albert figures out the true order of the universe. And I dare say this: it seems to me that he was closer to the Wintelers than his own family.
When I started off writing the story, it read like a journal. It took me months to realize that nobody would want to read that. Around the end of last year, I awakened to the fact that it has to be done in a way that makes a reader want to turn the page - ‘show, not tell the story’. Easier said than done. That’s why any given chapter probably gets written-rewritten a minimum of 5 or 6 times.
What I truly wish for is that you and I can use this forum to enjoy sharing things I have learned about one of the greatest scientific minds in history. Not so much about the science itself per se - there’s plenty of books on that already - but about the human being and how his second family - the Wintelers - influenced who he became.
One of my priorities is to enhance the website with photos and actual handwritten letters for you to see. I’ll let you know about that later.
Meanwhile - for no special reason - here are a few random facts for you.
I still wouldn’t know about my family tie to Albert Einstein if I hadn’t, for some inexplicable reason, selected Special Relativity as a university course.
From a family collection of 1,000s of handwritten German letters from 120+ years ago, it is a daunting task for one person to decide how to tell this untold story in English. And I don’t read or speak the German language.
I’ve been writing for 20 months non-stop and have about 8 chapters in good shape out of 16.
I’ve never written a book before.
Photos
Top of page. L to R: Albert Einstein, Maja Einstein-Winteler, Paul Winteler.
Bottom of page. Standing L to R: Albert Einstein, Mathias Winteler, Julius Winteler, sitting L to R: Pauline Winteler, Marie Winteler, woman unknown) in Aarau, Switzerland 1896.
I’ll be in touch again soon!
David
