I am now finishing up a philosophy course (PHIL 201) called, The Search for Meaning wherein I assigned your book, Tuesdays With Morrie.  This book (and we watched the movie as well) really made an impact on my students in a significant way.  Many of them expressed their own concerns about finding meaning in life, as well as normal human concerns with the fear of death.

In addition to your book, I also required Viktor Frankl’s, Man’s Search for Meaning, and Rabbi Kushner’s, When All You Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough.  This has been a powerful combination of great reading material for stimulating questions and ideas about our search for significance in a world that often seems uncertain.

Morrie’s story seemed to really inspire the class to look at suffering and death from the standpoint of finding hope and meaning even within the most seemingly dire situations.  I will continue to utilize this work again in the spring 2012 semester, along with your other works.  I recently picked up, For One More Day, and read it in one sitting. Yet another Albom gem.

Mitch, thank you from the bottom of my heart for creating these works of art.  They possess the power to help transform people’s hearts, and give them hope in some of life’s darkest moments.

I’ll be coming home to Detroit for the Christmas holiday. I would sure like to meet you and shake your hand sometime.  As a writer you have inspired me to continue pursuing my own writing in the areas upon which you have touched.

God bless you

David L. Russell