Mitch Albom

Biografie

Mitch was born on May 23, 1958 in Passaic, New Jersey. In his early 20's, while living in New York, he took an interest in journalism and volunteered to work for a local weekly paper, the Queens Tribune. He eventually returned to graduate school, earning a Master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, followed by an MBA from Columbia University's Graduate School of Business.

Mitch eventually turned full-time to his writing, working as a freelance sports journalist in New York for publications such as Sports Illustrated, GEO, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. His first full time newspaper job was as a feature writer and eventual sports columnist for The Fort Lauderdale News and Sun Sentinel in Florida. He moved to Detroit in 1985, where he became a nationally-acclaimed sports journalist at the Detroit Free Press and one of the best-known media figures in that city's history, working in newspapers, radio and television.

In 1995, he married Janine Sabino. That same year he re-encountered Morrie Schwartz, a former college professor who was dying of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. His visits with Schwartz would lead to the book Tuesdays with Morrie, which moved Mitch away from sports and began his career as an internationally recognized author.

Tuesdays with Morrie is the chronicle of Mitch's time spent with his beloved professor. As a labor of love, Mitch wrote the book to help pay Morrie's medical bills. His first novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven. For One More Day debuted at No.1 on the New York Times Bestseller List and spent nine months on the list. His book, Have a Little Faith, was released in September 2009 and selected by Oprah as the best nonfiction book of 2009.

Oprah Winfrey produced the film version of Tuesdays With Morrie, starring Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria. The film garnered four Emmy awards, including best TV film, director, actor and supporting actor. The critically acclaimed Five People You Meet in Heaven aired on ABC.

In 2010, Albom was named the recipient of the Red Smith Award for lifetime achievement by the Associated Press Sports Editors.