Father Ted Hesburgh

The University of Notre Dame is a special place, regarded by many as the worlds top Catholic institution of higher learning. Yet its modern reputation for excellence and service is only part of the legacy of Father Theodore Hesburgh, the universitys president from 1952 to 1987. Father Teds influence extended beyond Notre Dames campus in Northern Indiana. He worked with presidents, Popes, and Martin Luther King, Jr., and his guidance resulted in nuclear nonproliferation, immigration reform, and civil rights legislation. One of the many Domers influenced by Father Ted was Richard Digger Phelps, Notre Dames mens basketball coach from 1971 to 1991. Phelps gives readers a seat at the table with Father Ted, from the basketball locker room in the 1970s to Father Teds final Mass before he passed away in 2015. This account is an intimate portrait of an unlikely friendship and a rare look at the private moments of a man Digger often describes as a living saint.