The Book of Mychal

The life and legacy of Father Mychal Judge, the first official victim of 9/11 and a symbol of hope amidst tragedy. As chaplain to the Fire Department of New York, Father Mychal Judge was officially the first to perish on September 11th. A loving priest with a gift for the gab—gregarious yet humble, a healer with the ability to wipe away a widow's tears and put a smile on a fireman's face—Father Mike rushed to the fires at the World Trade Center as quickly as those who fought them, losing his own life while tirelessly ministering to New York's bravest. Father Mike recounts the colorful, astonishing, and at times troubled life of a priest who saw the potential for good in everybody—in the homeless person he slipped a dollar to on the street; the alcoholic he sought to coax to an AA meeting; the early victims of AIDS he embraced and comforted; the troubled young men he visited in jail; and the thousands of firefighters he blessed as they rushed to their rigs answering the call. Here was a priest who rejoiced in the life around him and understood that even the most terrible times present us with wonders—that good always arises from the bad in the most unexpected ways. Or as Father Mike would say, "My God is a God of surprises." In this touching book, author Michael Daly retraces the footsteps of Father Mike as his vocation takes us inside the firehouse, his friary and his Church, and the chaos that often befalls New York. Father Mike is the inspirational story of a hero priest who blessed so many lives and will long be remembered by it.