who was Karl May (pronounced “My” ) and what impression did he leave in Buffalo when he visited in September of 1908?
May was one of the hottest-selling authors of the late 19th century with more than 70 books to his credit. He finished “Winnetou,” a detailed and supposedly first-person novel about his intimate experiences with Natives, people he had never met. Generations grew up reading May. Those who cited him as a favorite author included Albert Einstein, Adolf Hitler and Hermann Hesse. May’s fraud wasn’t merely literary. May served two four-year terms for impersonating doctors, government officials and teachers. May turned to writing after training for five years to become a teacher, but was barred from teaching after hitting on his landlord”s wife and stealing a watch from his roommate. May didn’t start writing until after 30, and did some of it while in prison. Karl May might not have ever become a writer. Born to a poor family on Feb. 25, 1842, in Saxony, he became blind soon after birth. Surgery restored May’s vision at age four. His biggest seller became the epic-length “Winnetou,” complete
