I have just learned from a reader of my web site that Whitaker later hatched a scheme to win the Nobel Prize!!!! The deal was that he was to split the money with the prize winner. Here is a letter I have received from Oslo, Norway which Whitaker wrote in the early 1960s:
Rheinstr. 64
Nov. 13
Hello Odd
I am sorry your baby is not well. Maybe OK now, I do hope. Until a few days ago I thought I would go with a chess friend to Stockholm, then to Oslo to see you. We would have gone in his Opel, not in my new 1500S VW. He could not make this trip now. I will sail dec. 15 on the Bremen so hope to see you instead sure next summer.
All seem to be OK here; fine persons.
Can you assist in this matter: Do a little work now for no cash but with prospects of good money later? In US a very prominent nerve surgeon, having nation wide publicity I'd like to help that he be awarded a Nobel Price, worth maybe $40.000-50.000. He is fully entitled to the honor. I know we could depend on some of the money.
As you may know, these prizes: chemistry, poetry, medicine and other sciences have come from the Nobel fund since about 1901. Whether from Oslo or Stockholm, or both, I know not. Could you inquire into the whole matter? I have chess friends in Stockholm who could help there. Maybe you can get some data, booklets, names of the judges etc.
I'll be back in Washington on December 15. Am always glad to hear from you. When you write tell me the boy is better and that your wife, yourself, your parents and all are quite well.
Very best wishes.
Sincerely yours.
Norman T, Whitaker
3237 M St. N.W.
Washington 7 DC
USA
Note that I cross the 7!!
The person who received this letter helped Whitaker publish Whitaker's only chess book, which was in German and was entitled "365 Endgames".
Here is my correspondence with him:
At 11:17 AM 12/26/99 +0100, Odd Stjernesund wrote:
Mr. Sam Sloan.
My name is Odd Stjernesund and I live in Norway.
I am writing a little from my time in Germany, where I studied from 1955 to 1962. When I came to the chapter concerning Norman T. Whitaker, I thought I should try to find something about him on the Internet.
And I found!
I knew him fairly well and drove with him from Germany to Oslo in his WV-car. He crashed some few kilometers after he had left me at my home so I had to bring him to a hospital.
Please, forgive my bad English! I am 65 years old and haven't practiced your language for many years (I believe your age is 55?).
I have read some of what you have written and got astonished. I didn't know much of his life in USA, only that he was a lawyer, that his father had been a professor in mathematics and that his wife had been killed in a (train) accident. He told me nothing about his criminal career. I helped him with a book (in German) he was writing (365 Endspiele = "365 endgames"). I am not a chess-player, but I should very much like to learn more about his life.
If you have time to answer me I should be glad.
I have some pictures of him.
Odd Stjernesund
There seems to be a lot of interest in Whitaker lately.
I know he went to Germany every Summer. He often sent me picture postcards from Germany. However, I do not know what he did there. I assume he played in chess tournaments.
What year did you drive with him from Germany to Oslo?
I knew him from 1956 until 1962.
SAM SLOAN
From: "Odd Stjernesund"
I got this letter (if you want it with his handwriting, please tell me):
Washington Aug. 25 (1960)
Greetings Odd!
Many thanks for your kind letter of July 20 and photos. Say "Hello" to kleine Resi and the good Haiders. Just had a nice letter from the Waneticks. I replied that I would see them before October in California.
I'm pleased you had a fine trip with your parents. They are good people. I brought 500 of 3000 books back on the new VW but none have been distributed yet; waiting on a page of minor correction. Hope you are doing well in school. I feel quite sure I will see you by May. As to the wreck I am getting nowhere with insurance. I do have a small US-policy that will allow me $5 for a doctor also ambulance expenses. So I wrote the company that no ambulance was available there. That someone in my feeble condition phoned a car Skedsmogt. 43 Lilleström and the driver "first drove me (while I was in pain on the back seat) and took me into a large hospital in Oslo. He helped me in. Too crowded so we drove to the Klinikk. I paid him 225 Kr. I got no receipt but you can get one if you demand". All of which is largely true. I did not recall the name of the first hospital. So back me up if the U.S. insurance co. should inquire. Despite my payment of 5 Kr. to watch the car while I was away before I saw you, the carwatcher or the garage that night stole some things from the car. How low can people get?
Best wishes
N.T.W.
My notes: Whitaker visited family Haider in Darmstadt, Germany, where I lived during my stay at the university (1955-62). (Resi is Mrs. Haider). They had a son, Ernst, about 12 years old at that time. Whitaker, who was a friend of Resi's sister in USA, wanted to visit Norway with Ernst and me. I thought that Whitaker was a bad driver, and the parents and I said OK only if I drove the new VW the whole way alone. He agreed. We started 19. June 1960 at 0545. Whitaker would never pay a dime too much, so we got nothing to eat on the journey (I was a poor student). The trip took 28 hours and I sat at the wheel all the time (except for 3 hours when we were on a ferry between Germany and Denmark).
We arrived at my family the next morning and after a short stay he started alone to see the country. However, after about half an hour, the police phoned me and asked me to come and get him. He had had a bad accident. The new VW was a wreck and Whitaker was hurt in his chest.
Q.:
I have read what you and Mr. Larry Parr have written about Whitaker.
Could you please try to explain the differences between what you and Mr. Parr writes concerning his times in prison?
Thank you.
Odd Stjernesund
This is a very interesting letter.
I would like to post this letter and your comments on my web site, if I could have your permission.
Larry Parr has researched Whitaker and his remarks about the prison time served by Whitaker are more likely to be correct. However, I still believe that Whitaker served 18 years in prison, in spite of what Parr says.
Whitaker was in a far more serious accident in 1961 in which his friend Hartleb was killed. Whitaker was not the driver that time, however.
SAM SLOAN
From: "Odd Stjernesund"
Mr. Sloan.
Thank you for your letter yesterday (27. Dec).
You may post the letter and my comments on your web site, but please tell me on which site. I see that I have made some grammatical mistakes, so please make them correct.
Here a new letter:
Rheinstr. 64
Nov. 13
Hello Odd
I am sorry your baby is not well. Maybe OK now, I do hope. Until a few days ago I thought I would go with a chess friend to Stockholm, then to Oslo to see you. We would have gone in his Opel, not in my new 1500S VW. He could not make this trip now. I will sail dec. 15 on the Bremen so hope to see you instead sure next summer.
All seem to be OK here; fine persons.
Can you assist in this matter: Do a little work now for no cash but with prospects of good money later? In US a very prominent nerve surgeon, having nation wide publicity I'd like to help that he be awarded a Nobel Prize, worth maybe $40.000-50.000. He'll is fully entitled to the honor. I know we could depend on some of the money.
As you may know, these prizes: chemistry, poetry, medicine and other sciences have come from the Nobel found since about 1901. Whether from Oslo or Stockholm, or both, I know not. Could you inquire into the whole matter? I have chess friends in Stockholm who could help there. Maybe you can get some data, booklets, names of the judges' etc.
I'll be back in Washington on December 15. Am always glad to hear from you. When you write tell me the boy is better and that your wife, yourself, your parents and all are quite well.
Very best wishes.
Sincerely yours.
Norman T, Whitaker
3237 M St. N.W.
Washington 7 DC
USA
Note that I cross the 7!!
My notes:
I found this letter yesterday (27. Dec. 1999) among some old papers. I can't remember I did help him in any way about the Nobel prize.
Whitaker did not write which year, but we got our first child in Aug. 1963, a boy with severe handicaps. I had at that time ended my studies and worked as a traffic engineer in Oslo.
The letter is written at the family Haider who lived in Rheinstraße 64 in Darmstadt.
I don't know what he meant with "Note that I cross the 7!!"
Odd Stjernesund
NOTE: Whitaker wrote the number 7 in the German style, with a cross over the 7.
Here are links:
Contact address - please send e-mail to the following address: Sloan@ishipress.com