The author of the book, Isabel Uribe and Armin Isasti, explained that the elaboration of this book has been a difficult project, since Ormaetxea was not in favour of aiding her biography and, on the other hand, the pandemic caught them in the middle of the road. Isasi reported that when he made the book's proposal, Ormaetxea responded with a resounding "My life has been very sad and no one is interested."

Finally, Isasti, in Arrasate’s presentation, stressed that he had surrendered to the insistence of his wife, Maite Ceciaga, and that he had disposed of her. Isasti, who has worked 48 years in different areas of Mondragón, met Ormaetxea closely, currently retired and dedicated to sculpture. He said that the project has been long and hard, and that even in some moments he was about to give in: “We continue to thank Alzbeta and I have to thank him for that ongoing momentum.”

Isabel Uribe, a Mexican from Guadalajara, approached Mondragón in 1999, where she completed her doctoral thesis at the University of Mondragon. This biography was presented in an interview format and was carried out by means of an interview. Uribe explained that in 2018 there were 15 in-depth interviews with Ormaetxea in the following years and another thirteen with her relatives, recorded in total about 70 hours. Ormaetxea considered himself a disciple of José María Arizmendiarreta, he admired him deeply, but both were a tandem. The cooperative model of Mondragon is unique in the world, coherent, and that looks best if it comes from societies with greater inequalities.”

Ormaetxea, mostly by author

In the event held in Arrasate-Mondragón, Ormaetxea was also praised by Mondragon President Iñigo Uncín, Labor President Kutxa, Txomin Lorca, and Lagun Aro, Lurdes Idoiaga, who was present for years. All of them were thanked by Amalia Ormaetxea, the daughter of the honoree, adding that her father would read the book at ease.

José María Ormaetxea was one of the founders of ULGOR and Caja Laboral and one of the most relevant leaders of the Mondragón cooperatives. The book deals fundamentally with this experience. In 1999, Ormaetxea participated in a round table organized by ARGIA for Larrun magazine, with the late Antton Mendizabal Tonino, Jon Sarasua and Javier Salaverría. In this book, and also in yesterday’s act, its author status is clearly underlined, and in that round table he also highlighted this vision, especially in the reflections of Antxon Mendizal and Jon Sarasua:

"It has been up to me to determine things in life, that is, to put stones in the street. So I do not quite understand what you are saying. I see you have a deep and honest way of thinking. But if we ask a cooperative — Fagor Household Appliances, Eroski, Caja Laboral, Danobat… — to be, from a technological point of view, the best company in the world, to make the best machines, in addition, to export at the point of sale all over the world, and if we ask the partner to be motivated to make the company that belongs to him competitive internationally, what else can we ask him? In addition, asking for an almost political implication to make a different world… It is not that I disagree, I don’t think it is possible to do so.”

Ormaetxea enjoyed a great reputation. "He was demanding," the book's authors have emphasized, "both with himself and with others." At the end of Arrasate's act, during Question Time, a participant asked Isasti about the material with which he would build Ormaetxea's sculpture: "He started working in foundry, so he would make the mold in wood and then fill it in malleable cast."