In the summer of 1970 I received a letter from K. O. Friedrichs, a professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences in New York City. I had sent him a complimentary copy of Hilbert. He wrote to thank me for it, and then added in a postscript: "My wife and I, and many of our friends, have often urged Courant to write his reminiscences, but he has never responded to our suggestions. I wonder whether you would feel like approaching him on this matter. I know that he reacted very positively to your work on Hilbert. I can also assure you that you would find a great deal of support among all his friends."