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I recently discovered some old love letters, I estimate that some of them date back as much as 40 years. Here are some snippets from a few of them$\ldots$

We share so many little memories that never fade, persisting over long periods of time without changing. My love for you is how they all combine into a beautiful whole that is so much more than any of them individually. I treasure these, holding on to them as if trying to prevent anyone else from taking them away.

When I'm not with you I sometimes think about undressing you, dismantling your clothing one thread at a time so that it lasts much longer before I have to return to my day. Your natural beauty is so bright and colourful I feel overwhelmed. It's as if you shower me with arrows and play my heart-strings like a violin, tying me up in knots.

It's like I have a hunger for you, to know more about you, to fathom how you can possibly be so incredible. The more I know you, the more I am amazed by the intricacies of your beauty and character. This admiration only whets my desire further.

Who wrote these?

Update: Over the weekend, I went through some more papers from the same box. Most were boring but there also was another love letter. I've included a snippet from it below. Further, I noticed that some of the words were underlined in a different pen which had almost faded away, and I've added emphasis to those words in the snippets above and below.

Without you, I cannot see. It's as if I've never seen. I continue about my business, wishing you were with me, but really I'm just marking time. Creating new ways to count the seconds until I will see you once again.

I found another one$\ldots$

Before we met, my life felt like I was trudging up an infinite mountain. Step after step; hand-hold after foot-hold; toward a summit I wasn't sure was even there. But on the day I met you, I knew I had indeed reached the summit. I thought about it when I got home and realised how unlikely our meeting was, how if any one of a million little things was different then it never would have happened, and that's how I knew.

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    $\begingroup$ Are we looking for one or three authors? $\endgroup$
    – Alconja
    Mar 3, 2016 at 3:52
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    $\begingroup$ third paragraph surely talks about pizza :D $\endgroup$
    – manshu
    Mar 3, 2016 at 8:02
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    $\begingroup$ @Alconja all of the letters are written in the same hand. $\endgroup$
    – jhabbott
    Mar 3, 2016 at 15:04
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    $\begingroup$ Getting a physics vibe with the hint. Particles, fusion, stars, string theory, atomic clocks... $\endgroup$
    – Alconja
    Mar 6, 2016 at 23:04
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    $\begingroup$ @Alconja There's certainly an academic science vibe, yes, but the style of these letters seems much more more down to earth. $\endgroup$
    – jhabbott
    Mar 7, 2016 at 14:00

2 Answers 2

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The answer is

Richard Dawkins (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins)

Explanation

We share so many little memories that never fade, persisting over long periods of time without changing. My love for you is how they all combine into a beautiful whole that is so much more than any of them individually. I treasure these, holding on to them as if trying to prevent anyone else from taking them away.

little, they all combine, prevent anyone else from taking them away allude to:
"The Selfish Gene", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Selfish_Gene

When I'm not with you I sometimes think about undressing you, dismantling your clothing one thread at a time so that it lasts much longer before I have to return to my day. Your natural beauty is so bright and colourful I feel overwhelmed. It's as if you shower me with arrows and play my heart-strings like a violin, tying me up in knots.

dismantling your clothing one thread at a time, natural beauty, bright and colourful allude to:
"Unweaving the Rainbow", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unweaving_the_Rainbow

It's like I have a hunger for you, to know more about you, to fathom how you can possibly be so incredible. The more I know you, the more I am amazed by the intricacies of your beauty and character. This admiration only whets my desire further.

hunger, incredible, admiration, desire allude to:
"An Appetite for Wonder", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Appetite_for_Wonder

Without you, I cannot see. It's as if I've never seen. I continue about my business, wishing you were with me, but really I'm just marking time. Creating new ways to count the seconds until I will see you once again.

cannot see, never seen, marking time, Creating allude to:
"The Blind Watchmaker", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_Watchmaker

Before we met, my life felt like I was trudging up an infinite mountain. Step after step; hand-hold after foot-hold; toward a summit I wasn't sure was even there. But on the day I met you, I knew I had indeed reached the summit. I thought about it when I got home and realised how unlikely our meeting was, how if any one of a million little things was different then it never would have happened, and that's how I knew.

mountain, hand-hold after foot-hold, unlikely allude to:
"Climbing Mount Improbable", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climbing_Mount_Improbable

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Here is just some of the damage possible when personal correspondence falls into the wrong hands.

In the spirit of partial answers,

each love letter might be a different part of the answer, perhaps even an actual alphabetical letter.

If so, the second love letter might refer to

“bow” or the writer's beau, Bo.

  • When I'm not with you I sometimes think about undressing you, dismantling your clothing one thread at a time so that it lasts much longer before I have to return to my day.

    hair bow? ribbon bows instead of buttons for clothing?   [not off to a great start here]

  • Your natural beauty is so bright and colourful I feel overwhelmed. It's as if you shower me

    rainbow

  • with arrows and play my heart-strings

    archery bow, bowstring

  • like a violin

    violin bow

  • tying me up

    bow tie

  • in knots.

    bowknot

The fourth love letter might refer to

C or “sea.”

  • Without you, I cannot see. It's as if I've never seen.

    see why it might be C?

  • I continue about my business, wishing you were with me, but really I'm just marking time.

    in music, the marking for common time is 

  • Creating new ways to count the seconds

    14C (carbon-14) dating

  • until I will see you once again.

    double CC ?

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    $\begingroup$ This is a great way to approach it, but unfortunately I'm not clever enough to devise such a devious puzzle! Each snippet is a book - see comment on question. $\endgroup$
    – jhabbott
    Mar 10, 2016 at 3:30

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