Words of Life

The book focuses especially on the building''s best-known feature, the iconic mural named The Word of Life but better known to many as "Touchdown Jesus." Included in the book are numerous photos that transport the reader to the past and enhance an appreciation of the mural and the building for us today. "The lessons I hope will be drawn from the story of this Library and from my role in its fifty-years-and-counting lifespan are a mixture of past, present, and future. I wanted in 1963, and still desire today, for the Memorial Library literally to stand for the future of Notre Dame as a place of unmatched intellectual achievement, free inquiry, and providential contributions to mankind.

But I wanted, and still desire, that this be in the context of a distinctive pursuit of truth that is recognized in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and in Our Lady atop the Golden Dome.