The Professor Who Needed to Be Named

In 1985, Henri Nouwen held prestigious teaching positions at both Harvard and Yale. Students packed his lectures. Publishers sought his manuscripts. Yet he confessed to friends that he felt hollow, constantly seeking approval from audiences and colleagues to fill a gnawing emptiness inside. Then Nouwen made a bewildering decision. He left Harvard to live at L'Arche Daybreak community in Toronto, where he became the caregiver for Adam Arnett, a young man with severe intellectual disabilities who could not speak, dress himself, or even recognize Nouwen's academic credentials.…