He's received the same gift from Elie Wiesel and Winston Churchill that he has from Nelson Mandela and Ann Landers.
Each of the famous figures, and hundreds of others, has given Notre Dame President Emeritus Theodore Hesburgh, CSC, an autographed copy of a book they've written. Most include personal inscriptions, such as found in Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park: "For Fr. Ted Hesburgh -- Not exactly a profound book, this one, but I hope you find it helps to pass the time on one of your trips around the world."
The so-called Hesburgh Collection, which is approaching 2,000 volumes, can be found in the rare books room in Hesburgh Library. Father Ted says he had the books moved there 15 years ago in part to relieve a space crunch in his office. At one point he was receiving two or three such books a week (largely unsolicited) as gifts from author-friends and acquaintances. The contributors include such world leaders as Gerald Ford, Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger and several popes.
In the copy Andrew Greeley gave Hesburgh of his novel Death in April, the controversial sociologist-author-priest wrote, "For Ted Hesburgh, who may recognize some of the characters."
Advice columnist Landers, a personal friend of Father Ted, wrote in Wake Up and Smell the Coffee: "To Ted: Dear friend for 40 years -- And we've never sinned. With love -- But no kisses -- Eppie."
Carl Sagan inscribed his Pulitzer Prize-winning Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence: "In hopes of a further convergence of science and religion."
One book that was almost lost from the collection is The Three Reformers (about Luther, Descartes and Rousseau). The book was autographed for Hesburgh by the cardinal from Milan who had translated the original French text into Italian. Somehow it found its way into the Hesburgh Library stacks alongside an unsigned copy of the same work. Later, when the shelves were reorganized, the extra copy was discovered and sold at one of the periodic library sales for 50 cents. That copy was, of course, the autographed one.
When Father Ted discovered the mistake, he wrote to the man who had bought the book (and who had, unwisely, bragged about his bargain), reminding him that it is "not moral to benefit by acts of idiots." To be fair, Hesburgh sent the man a new copy. However, the replacement didn't bear the signature of the cardinal from Milan, who became Pope Paul VI.