Einstein in My Hometown

Abstract

During the 22 years Albert Einstein lived and worked in the United States, he frequently took long summer vacations. Generally he chose quiet, out-of-the-way vacation spots, and because of his love of sailing, places close to bodies of water. Among other locations, he vacationed at Saranac Lake in upstate New York, the Rhode Island coast, and, during the summers of 1937–39, at Nassau Point on the North Fork of Long Island. Nassau Point is a part of the small town of Cutchogue1 and is located on Peconic Bay, about 90 miles from New York City. It was an ideal spot for Einstein both because it was off the beaten path and because of the outstanding sailing conditions on Peconic Bay. Einstein rented a cabin just a stone's throw from the bay. I myself have a special interest in Cutchogue because it's the place where I was born and where I spent the first few years of my life. Unfortunately, I came along five or six years too late to have actually seen Einstein there, but he did have encounters with some of my older friends and relatives.