I M A G I N E One great story about one very unique place. A wonderful school with a French name and Irish tradition as well as a charming mystique. Je ne sais quoi What undefinable and mysterious quality Notre Dame has by the carload, all captured twenty-nine years ago by a gifted writer named Bob Quakenbush, who created a Fighting Irish masterpiece. Now under consideration, as a major motion picture for this story, which will transfer this author's rich imagination onto the large screen. This story has it all - warmth, humor and legends - but most of all it captures the author's love and spirit of Notre Dame, a University - immersed in a culture of excellence and founded on virtue and determination. While at all times respecting Our Lady's school customs and traditions; the author has created a Notre Dame football classic. Bob Quakenbush would be the first to agree that even without a football team (heavens) Notre Dame would still be the finest Catholic University on Planet Earth. If you are a first time reader, you should be envied, as you are about to revel in a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Shake down the Thunder
About the Author: THE AUTHOR Originally published in 1985, THE GIPPER'S GHOST is the first novel written by Robert Quakenbush (pronounced QUAKE -n - bush). Bob is a Notre Dame graduate. He earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame in 1976. While at Notre Dame, he polished his writing skills as a reporter for the student newspaper, The Observer, and as sports editor of the 1975 yearbook, The Dome. He also served as chairman of Notre Dame's annual springtime festival, An Tostal. The Muncie, Indiana, native was raised in the northwest suburbs of Detroit, where he attended and graduated from Our Lady Queen of Martyrs grade school and Brother Rice High School. He spent many years in Chicago as a public relations and marketing communications professional. Despite what he himself calls "the highly questionable theology" he presented in THE GIPPER'S GHOST, Bob later handled media relations for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, and was even appointed Chief Communications Officer by its archbishop, the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin. Today, Bob remains involved with Catholic education. He serves on the school board for Saint Joseph High School in South Bend, Indiana, and works at his beloved alma mater, the University of Notre Dame. He lives in South Bend with his wife Mary Beth, daughter Kelly, and their small dogs.