Genius Tree LLC maker of Einstein Pens.

Genius Tree LLC is a new company whose purpose is to create products to help people feel closer to the great genius Albert Einstein. My wife and I have had the great privilege of living in the residence that Einstein lived in for two years after arriving in America, from 1933-1935, Two Library Place, Princeton, NJ. Having lived in this house for over a dozen years now, we have welcomed visitors from all over the world, including at least two Nobel Prize winners, Eric Maskin and Martin Chalfie, many physicists, historians, students and professors including the rocket scientist and congressman, Rush Holt.

Many visitors to this house have traveled halfway around the world to come see Einstein’s residence. I often say it is the modern day pilgrimage. These visitors are very surprised when I invite them into the house to see the genius’s former home and the documentation I’ve collected of his time living here. Hosting these visits from world travelers is one of the greatest joys of my life.

Over 150 years old, and the original living room floor of Two Library Place needed replacement. This was a floor Einstein regularly lived and walked on, so I kept the wood from the original floor and have it locked in dry storage. Also, a large, very old maple tree that was here in the front yard during Einstein’s stay shed a large portion of the upper trunk a few months ago. I cut that wood and locked it in dry storage as well. I have also saved wood from a very old dogwood and pin oak on the property.

I've been a woodworker all my life, but now with these woods, I have the opportunity to make items for Einstein enthusiasts and collectors to help them feel closer to the planet’s most famous genius. So I recently set up shop and began making pens and letter openers from this Einstein wood, and started a company called Genius Tree LLC to make these precious products available to the general public.

Each Genius Tree creation comes with a stamped provenance document certifying that it is made from Einstein wood, and each piece is identified by the type of wood, photographs, and a description of its relationship to the property. Each piece is also numbered in its series. To maintain control over the wood and the product authenticity, I am the only craftsman to make Genius Tree creations and I keep the wood in dry storage under lock and key. Documentation that Einstein lived at this address is found in several places including Walter Issacson’s biography[1] of Einstein and a 1933 article from the New York Times entitled “Einstein has Musicale,”[2] which includes a photo of him in the kitchen surrounded by his wife and three world-class string musicians. I have photo documentation of the wood being removed from the floor and being taken to storage at my shop, as well branches fallen or removed from Einstein residence tree wood.

These pens and letter openers make fine gifts for graduates, Einstein admirers and collectors of rare and beautiful objects.

[1] Isaacson, Walter, Einstein: His Life and Universe, Simon & Schuster, New York 2007, page 426 and footnote 5 on page 622

[2] “Einstein Has Musicale”, New York Times, Nov. 10, 1933