More Letters to a Young Catholic

In 2003, Elizabeth Maguire, publisher of Basic Books, made a proposal: I should write Letters to a Young Catholic as part of a series she was doing that included volumes like Letters to a Young Contrarian, Letters to a Young Chef, Letters to a Young Golfer, Letters to a Young Lawyer, and so forth.

Liz and I had worked well together on The Courage To Be Catholic, but I turned her down. Iâ??d just done a small book of popular apologetics, The Truth of Catholicism and I didnâ??t think I had another one in me. But Liz was nothing if not persistent, and she kept pressing the question whenever we met, trying on at least two occasions to weaken my resistance by standing me to barbecue and bourbon. I finally told her that, if I could come up with a scheme that got me interested in such a book, Iâ??d do it â?? because Iâ??d have to be excited about it if I were going to excite readers.