During a 2005 interview, Fr. Richardson recalled when he first approached Heidegger about his project. “I figured: ‘Well, what can I lose? He can’t resent my naiveté’...So I screwed up my courage to go speak to him and decided to go in and see him with my broken German. And he was very gracious to me. He could have just dismissed me but didn’t. He really treated me like a mensch, so to speak.” In fact, Heidegger was quite impressed by his visitor, according to an intermediary, who told Fr. Richardson that after the interview Heidegger had remarked: “Who is this guy? He’s an American, and a Jesuit, and he got me right. Most Europeans get me wrong. How is this possible?”

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