I made Brian Wilson sad once. I didn’t mean to. We were doing a radio interview, the first time...
About the Author
Mitch Albom is an internationally renowned and best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, playwright, radio and television broadcaster and musician. His books have collectively sold 42 million copies worldwide; have been published in 51 territories and in 48 languages around the world; and have been made into Emmy Award-winning and critically-acclaimed television movies. In 2006, he founded the nonprofit SAY Detroit, which provides pathways to success for Detroiters in need through major health, housing and education initiatives. He also founded a dessert shop and a gourmet popcorn line to help fund it. Albom operates Have Faith Haiti, a home and school for impoverished children and orphans in Port-au-Prince, which he visits monthly. He lives with his wife, Janine, in Michigan.
-
Read full biography
-
Download media bio
-
FAQs
-
Mitch’s Pick’s
Mitch’s Picks
Some of My Favorite Photos
Books I Love, in No Particular Order
13 Favorite Movies of All Time
16 Albums I Could Listen To Forever
- Carole King – Tapestry
- Fairground Attraction – First Of A Million Kisses
- Gene Autry – Sings Gene Autry
- Bill Evans Trio – Live at the Village Vanguard
- Grateful Dead – American Beauty
- Sly and the Family Stone – Dance To The Music
- Elvis Presley – From the 50’s Masters
- Stevie Wonder – Songs In The Key Of Life
- Jimi Hendrix – Smash Hits
- Miles Davis – Milestones
- The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
- The Housemartins – London 0, Hull 4
- Elvis Costello – My Aim Is True
- Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers – The Best Of
- Chuck Berry – The Great Twenty-Eight
- The Rolling Stones – Through the Past Darkly
15 Songs I Never, Ever Get Tired Of
- I Just Can’t Stop Dancing – Archie Bell & The Drells
- Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk – Rufus Wainwright
- Here, There and Everywhere – The Beatles
- Fields of Gold – Eva Cassidy
- War – Summer
- Pump it Up – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
- The E Street Shuffle – Bruce Springsteen
- More Today Than Yesterday – Spiral Staircase
- The Very Thought of You – Tony Bennett
- We Gotta Get You A Woman – Todd Rundgren
- My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys – Willie Nelson
- Rue St. Vincent – Yves Montand
- A Lover’s Question – Clyde McPhatter
- True Love Ways – Buddy Holly
- So Much in Love – The Tymes
15 Artists I Never Get Tired of
- Aaron Neville
- Charlie Parker
- Sam Cooke
- Carole Sloane
- Tony Bennett
- Elvis Costello
- Frank Sinatra
- John Pizzarelli
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Duke Ellington
- Elvis Presley
- Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
- Wynton Marsalis
- Stevie Wonder
- Warren Zevon
Top 7 Bands
- The Beatles
- The Spongetones
- The Drifters
- Dire Straits
- Vampire Weekend
- The Temptations
- Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
Top Singer/Songwriters
- Paul Simon
- Randy Newman
- Mark Knopfler
- Warren Zevon
- Lyle Lovett
Top Music Genres
- Doo-wop oldies
- Be-bop jazz
- Mozart
- 1960’s Motown
- Jazz vocals
Hits and Misses
FAQs
I’ve pulled together the list of the most common questions I’ve ever received. It’s everything you’ve wanted to know, so here goes:
Growing up, what did I want to be when I got older?
The first time someone asked me what I wanted to be I said “a garbage man”. I was five. It seemed like a cool job, But then I began reading and collecting comic books, and wanted to be a cartoonist. That led me to the idea of stories. I ended up creating my own little comic books. Later I went into music because I was surrounded by people who were in music—my father was a singer, my uncle was a piano player (he taught me how to play). I think I just had a sense that it was more fun to create than it was to just slog away at some kind of labor. The people who I knew as I was growing up who seemed to be having the most fun were the people who were doing creative things. I grew up in the 60s, and you could always tell the creative people dressed more comfortably than the ones who were going to work with ties. At the beginning I said, I want to look like that, I want to act like that, I want to be happy and free like that. I think I was always more drawn to creative things. Music, writing, cartoons, you name it. It was always that over, say, accounting.
What do I think about death/why do I write about death?
I like to say that I don’t write about death, I write about life. Death just gets your attention. My mother lost her father when she was 15. He died of a heart attack. Her life was completely changed by that, and growing up, she always told us about it. When I was 22, my beloved uncle Mike – my mother’s brother – died of cancer. I was living by him at the time. That had a profound affect on me. All three of my grandparents died in the years that followed, as did my older uncles and aunts, including my Uncle Eddie, the inspiration behind “The Five People You Meet In Heaven.” And of course losing Morrie was obviously a huge event in my life. So I have been exposed to people dying at various stages of my development. That may have been more positive than it sounds. Each of those events ultimately taught me the value of cherishing every day, and the foolishness of pretending death isn’t a real part of life, or that it is a subject to be shunned or avoided. I have realized that loss, love and finding meaning in your life while you are here are all universal themes, they are true for Americans, Africans, Europeans, rich, poor, black, white, man, woman, you name it. So I know that my stories, if I do them well, should resonate with people no matter where they are reading them.
What is my family like? Do I have any sisters or brothers?
I’ve been blessed with wonderful parents, who wanted me to fly and to aspire and do things. I grew up in a small, middle class neighborhood from which most people never left. But my parents always said, “Don’t expect your life to finish here. There’s a big world out there. Go out and see it.” I have an older sister and a younger brother. My older sister, my younger brother and I all took that message to heart and traveled extensively, with my siblings settling in Europe. Now, of course, our parents say, “Great. All our kids went and saw the world and now no one comes home to have dinner on Sundays.”
What’s my once-in-a-while food indulgence?
Every year on my birthday, I have a nonstop gluttonous feast. It’s the one day each year I eat all of the unhealthy foods I won’t eat during the rest of the year. Cocoa Puffs; pizza from D’Amatos; quiche/pancake/omelette from Original Pancake House in Birmingham; Buffalo chip and banana pudding flavored ice cream at Stucchi’s of Dexter in Ann Arbor; the No. 32 sandwich from Maize and Blue Deli; french fries at Five Guys; and caramel popcorn from the Detroit Water Ice Factory.
What’s the coolest video I’ve been in recently?
I wasn’t in the video but it was my first time directing, and I got to direct Catherine O’Hara! It’s Leslie, a two episode show for the YouTube Channel WIGS. It’s a comedy about an aging actress up for the role of Mother Theresa.
What’s the first job I had after college?
I’d been travelling around Europe after college (this is about 1979) and ran out of money in Athens. While I was waiting for family to wire over some money so I could get home, I saw an ad for a piano player needed in a luxury resort hotel. With nothing to do, I answered it. Flew to Crete and ended up getting hired as the piano player for the hotel and as a nightclub singer performing Elvis Presley and Ray Charles songs. This small fishing village was so off the grid I think they thought the songs were original!
Who has been my most influential mentor or role model?
I have been very lucky to be taught, emotionally and spiritually, by many people over the years. My parents certainly affected such growth. The clerics in my life have done the same. It’s been my privilege to know Morrie Schwartz, but even some of the people I have gotten to know since Tuesdays With Morrie was published who are dying themselves and have shared their stories with me have continued to shape me. The children of the Have Faith Haiti mission have touched me deeply and affected my view of the world. Your teachers, I believe, can come from anywhere.
Are my books true stories?
All of my books begin with feelings and experiences that I have had myself. “Morrie” was an autobiographical experience. Five People was inspired by – and dedicated to – my old Uncle Eddie. For One More Day has a good deal of my own mother and me behind the characters.
Are my works taught in schools?
Yes, Tuesdays with Morrie has been used in many schools in the USA and around the world and it gives me great pleasure to hear from teachers. Morrie would be thrilled to know. If you are a teacher or to read some comments from teachers click here.
How do I come up with the ideas for my books?
Well, my inspiration tends to come from people I know. For example, obviously, Morrie and his unique personality – and unique approach to dying – was the inspiration for “Tuesdays with Morrie” along with the need to pay his medical bills. The inspiration for “Five People” was my real uncle Eddie, who was much like the character in the book, a man who felt he didn’t matter in life. I wanted to write a story in which Eddie got to know, in heaven, that he did matter here on earth – much as I would like my real uncle Eddie, wherever he is now in heaven, to experience that. The inspiration for “For One More Day” came, again, from a real person, my mother, who stood up for me all my life, even when I didn’t always stand up for her. I have imagined what life will be like when she is no longer here, and I know I will want another day with her. That feeling became the ground floor of that book. It’s a little derivative of the idea “Write what you know” which they always tell you when you begin to do fiction. I’m not so much writing what I know – after all, I don’t know amusement parks or heaven – but I am writing WHO I know. And that gives me a comfort to move ahead with my stories.
How do my books affect my own life?
The most profound effect of any of the books I have written has to have beenTuesdays With Morrie. Before that, I was a harried, ambitious sportswriter who never spent five minutes thinking about mortality, how we spend our lives, or my legacy with others. Visiting Morrie, watching him slowly die, seeing him so wise and brave in those final months, really was a life-changing experience. Just the act of writing the book, which was done to pay his medical bills, was probably the first large act that I did for someone else, not me. As it turned out, that act changed my life in so many ways.
Each of my books has taught me something, both in the writing and in the reaction. But Tuesdays, because it is a true story, was the first and most significant turn in the road.
How long does it take to for me to write my books?
It took me six years after Tuesdays, to be honest, because I was sort of overwhelmed by the huge reception for that book, since no one ever expected it – least of all me. I finally decided to do something completely different and write fiction – and a story about heaven to boot. That took some time. Once I completed The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the issue became which idea to choose next? That’s why it took me three years. I can start about four different books, only to put them aside and get interested in writing another. As for the future, well, those other four are still sitting in the drawer, crying out for attention. I have been writing faster than once every six years, but I think mine will always take a bit of time to sit in my heart and brain and feel completely right.
What has been the highlight of my publishing career?
The satisfaction, as an author, to know your book can have a lasting message. As a sportswriter and columnist, the deadlines are tough but the reaction from readers is instantaneous, but the piece is gone almost as soon as it’s published and you’re on to the next story. But with a book, if it reaches an audience, the satisfaction with your work can be longer and deeper.
What interested me in characters like Eddie and Chick, who are in many ways “losers”?
Because the world has heard enough about famous people and rich celebrities. I worked for many years with the biggest sports stars in America, and I suppose I grew tired of seeing everyday people feel these athletes were somehow gods and much more important than they were. My belief is that wealth or celebrity doesn’t make anyone more significant than anyone else and that, in truth, the greatest lessons we learn usually come from the most ordinary things and people. Charley and Eddie go through things that most of us go through. I felt that taking these simple men on extraordinary journeys would make the stories easier for readers to relate.
What was Morrie like?
Morrie was a treasure. What I often remind people who read Tuesdays With Morrie is that he was mostly the way he was even before he was dying. When I knew Morrie as a student, he was always present, involved, a great listener, a tease, a warm and gentle and academically curious professor who challenged you with his questions but comforted you with his answers. When he got sick, it was as if his best traits just magnified. I don’t know if I ever did a perfect job of describing what being with him was like; even when he couldn’t move, he made you feel loved and embraced. He loved to teach and he did it to the end.
Where do I get my inspiration from?
I look to the moments in my life when I was overwhelmed by emotion, when I felt tears behind my eyes or when I felt my breath leaving me. And then I think what was behind those moments: what happened to push me to that point? I try to see if it is something universal, something many people feel. If so, I know I am I standing in the soil of something inspiring, and I begin to create a story from that moment
Why did I write For One More Day?
I wrote it because I had wanted to do something on mothers and sons, that very unique–but not often explored–relationship. I have been blessed with a wonderful mother, a strong, loving, opinionated woman, and I know so many people, like me, who have gone through that loss. I also wanted to do something about the terrible effects of divorce on children and this book let me explore how children, when their parents split, chase after the love that eludes them. That chase often haunts you right into adulthood.
Why did you choose five people? Who are your five people you want to see in heaven?
This is a question I get all the time. There is no significance in the number 5. It could’ve been 4 or 6, but 4 seemed too few and 6 seemed too many. Sometimes when I’ve thought about it, it’s kind of generational; twenty years is about a generation, and if you begin when you’re an infant then every twenty years is another generation. Eddie was eighty years old, so there would be five people in it. People have tried to read more significance into this, but it just worked for the story. For my five, I don’t have a predetermined list and it doesn’t include anybody famous, but I hope it’s the people who are gone from my life that I miss. I’d love to have a chance to speak with Morrie and ask him what he thinks of everything that’s happened since he’s been gone. I wish I could hand my uncle Eddie the book and so he could know he wasn’t a “nobody.” I don’t really have a list of big time people that I would like to see. Most of them are loved ones who I haven’t seen for a while and I’d love to catch up with. But if there were room, I think it may be nice to meet one person who you didn’t know particularly well and you found out that you had an influence on them.
... come to your town?
Please visit my calendar for an up-to-date list of future appearances and formal signings.
… meet with you or your class, friend, child, or group?
While I understand your enthusiasm and admire your desire to arrange a meeting or help your loved one, I can’t meet with all of my readers. My work takes up most of my time, but when I have spare time, it goes to my own family and charitable work, without exception. I’m sure you understand.
… read and answer my email or letter I send in the mail?
I LOVE hearing from you, and while I do try to read everything that comes in the mail or by email, I simply cannot respond to everything due to the sheer volume of letters I receive. To answer every piece of mail would affect the time I have to write and the time I devote to my family. But please keep sending it, and know without a doubt how much I treasure it.
… sign your book or send you an autograph?
With tens of millions of copies of my books sold worldwide, accepting and sending out mail directly just isn't logistically possible.
Authorized autographed copies are often available when a new book is released. Future public book signing events are listed in the calendar here, but subscribing to my newsletter here means you get the news first!
… speak at an event?
Thanks for your interest. Please contact Nancy Aaronson of the Leigh Speakers Bureau at nancya@leighbureau.com for any inquiry regarding speaking engagements.
… support your cause or charity?
As you can imagine, there simply isn’t enough column space and radio time to address the many requests like this that I receive. Much of what I’m able to give of time and support goes to my own charitable efforts, which you can learn more about at www.saydetroit.org and www.havefaithhaiti.org.
…help you with your book report about me/one of my books?
I receive thousands of emails each month from people of all ages. Many are young students like you, who ask me what inspired my work. I’ve provided this detailed FAQ section to help answer your questions and provide behind-the-scenes material. If you can’t find the answer here or by searching this website, it’s probably a personal detail I’m not comfortable sharing. I hope my readers and other students and teachers will find it helpful.
…offer advice on how to be a sports journalist?
For a career in sports journalism, you need an extensive knowledge of sports and the ability to communicate this knowledge. It may be best for you to speak with a career counselor or some journalism schools as to what your next steps should be.
… offer advice on your life/career?
I think it would be unfair of me to advise you extensively on something like this because I don’t know you personally, but I’m grateful you thought of me. I think it’s important to find something you love to do. We all need to find out what moves us, inspires us and makes us feel good about who we are and how we are with other people. Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck.
… read your book and provide a review or blurb? Or help you write your book?
As you might imagine, I’m often asked to provide blurbs or offer advice on someone’s work, and while I’m flattered you’re asking my opinion, but I just don’t have time to adequately read all these new works and offer the best advice. There are many guides and websites of organizations (like the Authors Guild) that will explain the basic mechanics of the publishing industry, and important details you need to know as an author. But I believe that it all starts with a story. I once gave a talk to fellow columnists at the Detroit Free Press about writing. Click here to read it. I hope you’ll find meaningful insights into finding your voice and reaching your audience.
… find a reading group or discussion guide for my books?
… find a teacher’s guide for my books?
… find foreign translations of my books?
… obtain permission to use an excerpt from one of my books?
… send me an idea for my next story or book? Will I write or help you write a book or article about your or your loved one’s unique story?
… send me fan mail/email me/contact me?
… purchase one of my books/films/plays?
Subscribe for bonus content and giveaways!
Mitch Albom was born on May 23, 1958 in Passaic, New Jersey, the middle of three children to Rhoda and Ira Albom. The family moved to the Buffalo, N.Y. area briefly before settling in Oaklyn, New Jersey, not far from Philadelphia. Mitch grew up wanting to be a cartoonist before switching to music. He taught himself to play piano, and played in bands, including The Lucky Tiger Grease Stick Band, throughout his adolescence. After attending high schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, he left for college after his junior year. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1979 at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, majoring in sociology, but stayed true to his dream of a life in music, and upon graduation, he worked for several years as a performer, both in Europe and America. One of his engagements during this time included a taverna on the Greek island of Crete, in which he was a featured American performer who sang Elvis Presley and Ray Charles songs. He also wrote and produced the recording of several songs.
In his early 20s, 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. During this time, he paid his tuition partly through work as a piano player. 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. He currently hosts a daily talk show on WJR radio (airs Monday through Friday, 4-6 p.m. EST) and made regular appearances on ESPN Sports Reporters (co-founding its later iteration as a podcast with Mike Lupica and Bob Ryan) and SportsCenter.
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. It spent four years on the New York Times Bestseller list and is now the most successful memoir ever published. His first novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, is the most successful US hardcover first adult novel ever. For One More Day debuted at No.1 on the New York Times Bestseller List and spent nine months on the list. In October 2006, For One More Day was the first book chosen by Starbucks in the newly launched Book Break Program, which also helped fight illiteracy by donating one dollar from every book sold to Jumpstart. Have a Little Faith, was released in September 2009 and selected by Oprah.com as the best nonfiction book of 2009. His following titles, The Time Keeper and The First Phone Call from Heaven, both debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. Bestselling The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto (2015) was the first book to be published in tandem with a soundtrack of original songs and covers, released by Republic Records. Debuting as #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List, The Next Person You Meet in Heaven, a sequel to The Five People You Meet in Heaven that follows the life of the little girl after being saved by the first book’s lead character.
Following his bestselling memoir Finding Chika, and Human Touch, a weekly serial written and published online which raised nearly $1 million for pandemic relief, he returned to fiction with The Stranger in the Lifeboat, which debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestsellers List after being #1 on Amazon. His much-anticipated new novel, The Little Liar, set during the Holocaust, is coming in the fall of 2023.
Four of Albom’s best sellers have been turned into successful TV movies. Oprah Winfrey produced the film version of Tuesdays With Morrie in December 1999, 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 winter, 2004. Directed by Lloyd Kramer, the film was the most watched TV movie of the year, with 19 million viewers. Oprah Winfrey Presents Mitch Albom’s For One More Day aired on ABC in December 2007 and earned Ellen Burstyn a Screen Actors Guild nomination. Most recently. Hallmark Hall of Fame produced the film adaptation of Have a Little Faith, which aired on ABC in November 2011. It starred Laurence Fishburne, Bradley Whitford, Martin Landau, and Anika Noni Rose. In 2013, Warner Bros. optioned the film rights to The First Phone Call from Heaven for a feature film release. An award-winning journalist and radio host, Albom wrote the screenplay for For One More Day, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and Have a Little Faith and is an established playwright, having authored numerous pieces for the theater, including the off-Broadway version of Tuesdays With Morrie (co-written with Jeffrey Hatcher) which has seen over one hundred productions across the US and Canada. Mitch is also an accomplished song writer and lyricist. Later in his life, when music had become a sideline, he would see several of his songs recorded, including the song “Hit Somebody (The Hockey Song)” which he wrote for rock singer Warren Zevon. Albom also wrote and performed songs for several TV movies, including “Cookin’ for Two” for Christmas in Connecticut, the 1992 remake directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Albom has founded several charities in the metropolitan Detroit area, including SAY Detroit (2006), which provides pathways to success for Detroiters in need. This is achieved by direct efforts; with civic and community partners; through initiatives such as an after-school motivational learning center (SAY Detroit Play Center), a free medical clinic (SAY Detroit Family Health Clinic), a housing program for working families (Working Homes / Working Families); and other learning, health care and housing programs. It also supports local partner charities with funds raised at an annual December Radiothon, broadcast live on WJR (760 AM).
The Heart of Detroit is a groundbreaking public service initiative. Airing weekly during Local 4 News (Detroit) at 5 p.m. and then on theheartofdetroit.org, The Heart of Detroit sharws inspiring stories of metro Detroiters with heart and everyday people who step up to help make our community a better place to live.
A Hole in the Roof Foundation helps faith groups of every denomination who care for the homeless repair the spaces in which they carry out their work. The seed that gave root to the Foundation – and also inspired its name—was the hole in the roof of the I Am My Brother’s Keeper church in inner-city Detroit, written about in Have a Little Faith.
Have Faith Haiti provides safety, nourishment, education, and opportunity for Haiti’s impoverished children and orphans, and stability for staff and their families in Port-au-Prince. We provide a loving home where children can thrive personally, academically, and spiritually. After graduating from our bilingual academy, children have a pathway to attend college or vocational training and return home as changemakers and leaders in the Haitian community.
In August 2015, Albom opened the Detroit Water Ice Factory, located at 1014 Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit. A charitable retail operation, DWIF offers a delicious frozen dessert with 100% of all profits going to help Detroit’s neediest through SAY Detroit. Employees are often members of SAY Detroit partner programs. Detroit Water Ice launched a line of gourmet popcorn called Brown Bag Popcorn, which has grown into its very own sister brand to DWIF and opened its own retail store in The Somerset Collection in Troy, MI in 2019.
Albom also raises money for literacy projects through a variety of means including his performances with The Rock Bottom Remainders, a band made up of writers which includes Stephen King, Dave Barry, Scott Turow, Amy Tan and Ridley Pearson. Albom serves on the boards of various charities and, in 1999, was named National Hospice Organization’s Man of the Year. In 2010, Albom was named the recipient of the Red Smith Award for lifetime achievement by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In 2013, he was inducted into the National Sports Media Association’s Hall of Fame, followed by the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
He lives with his wife, Janine, in Detroit, MI.