With the phrase “Dear Good Friends of Trinity University, 715 Stadium Drive, San Antonio, Texas” (164), O'Neil Ford explained his need to restructure his commencement address, titled “The End of a Beginning,” composed to accompany his acceptance of an honorary doctorate in 1967. Ford began by confessing his nervousness in delivering a speech to an academic audience and claimed that he would be far more comfortable if he could frame the talk as a letter. And so he did. Trinity University at that time had occupied its new campus for about a decade, and Ford had played an influential role in its planning and designed several of its buildings. He spoke to those assembled as an architect and builder. A recurring theme in the talks and writings collected in this compact volume is Ford's belief in architecture as a reality rather than as a theoretical subject. Over his long career,...

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