Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.
For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.
Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn’t you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger?
Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final “class”: lessons in how to live.
Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie’s lasting gift with the world. Now the best-selling memoir of all time,Tuesdays with Morrie began as a modest labor of love to help pay some of Schwartz’s medical bills. Today, the book has sold 16 million copies in more than 50 editions around the world.
Buy the Book
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Mitch talks about Morrie at the Augie’s Quest bash (2007)
Read an Excerpt
“The last class of my old professor’s life took place once a week in his house, by a window in the study where he could watch a small hibiscus plant shed its pink leaves. The class met on Tuesdays. It began after breakfast. The subject was The Meaning of Life. It was taught from experience… Although no final exam was given, you were expected to produce one long paper on what was learned. That paper is presented here. The last class of my old professor’s life had only one student. I was the student…keep reading»
“Sometimes if you take a second look around you’ll notice we are amongst angels. Only a man–no, a saint–like Morrie Schwartz could take his own impending death and teach us how to live. After reading Tuesdays with Morrie you’ll understand that class is never dismissed.”
Jeff DanielsInspiration: Morrie Schwartz
This is an article I wrote for the Detroit Free Press shortly after Morrie’s death in 1995:
The worst part of dying this way, he said, was that he couldn’t dance. Morrie loved to dance. For years he went to a church hall not far from Harvard Square, where once a week they would blast music and open the door to anyone, dance however you wanted with whomever you wanted. Morrie danced by himself. ...keep reading»
Interviews with Morrie
Sample the Audiobook
Playlist: Songs that remind me of Morrie
Read the original book proposal for Tuesdays with Morrie, submitted to publishers in 1995.
Reading Groups
Print-ready discussion guide for individuals and groups.
Educators
Using Tuesdays with Morrie in the classroom?
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THE MOVIE
- Mick Jackson | Director
- Jack Lemmon | Morrie Schwartz
- Hank Azaria | Mitch Albom
- Wendy Moniz | Janine
- Caroline Aaron | Connie
- Bonnie Bartlett | Charlotte
- Aaron Lustig | Rabbi Al Axelrod
- Bruce Nozick | Morrie’s Father
- Ivo Cutzarida | Sergio
- John Carroll Lynch | Walter
- Dan Thiel | Shawn Daley
- Kyle Sullivan | Young Morrie
- Christian J. Meoli | Aldo
“…perhaps the best network television movie in recent memory, a story of surprising wit and humanity, formed with simple grace around the last months of the real-life Brandeis professor and Newton native Morrie Schwartz.”
– John Koch, The Boston Globe
“Does the book justice – a pretty impressive feat.”
-Ray Richmond, Daily Variety
Oprah Winfrey approached Mitch Albom about turning Tuesdays With Morrie into a made-for-television film not long after the book was published. The film, which aired on ABC-TV in December 1999, was directed by Mick Jackson and starred Jack Lemmon, as Morrie, in what was to be his last major role and one he would subsequently say was “my favorite.”
Lemmon was rewarded with the Outstanding Lead Actor In A Mini-Series or Movie Emmy for his performance. Hank Azaria, who played Mitch, also won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor and the film won the Emmy for Outstanding Made-For-Television Movie. With an audience of nearly 25 million people, it was the most watched TV film of the year.
Watch the Trailer & Clips
From the Set:
THE PLAY
Playbills and Photos
The stage version of Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays With Morrie premiered in an acclaimed production at New York Stage and Film in Poughkeepsie, New York in Summer 2002, and opened off-Broadway on November 19, 2002, to highly favorable reviews at the Minetta Lane Theatre.
Co-authored by Mitch Albom and Jeffrey Hatcher (Three Viewings) and directed by David Esbjornson (The Goat or Who Is Sylvia?, My Old Lady), Tuesdays with Morrie starred Alvin Epstein (original Lucky in Waiting for Godot) as Morrie and Jon Tenney (The Heiress) as Mitch.
Since then, the play has seen productions across the globe, including a 25 city tour and independent productions at the Seattle Repertory, Laguna Playhouse and American Heartland Theatre, to name a few.
Reviews
“Unforgettable! No matter how well you tell the story, the play makes it more vivid, more shattering, more humorous…This is a play that might – incredibly, just might – change your life.” – New York Magazine
“I was unprepared for how moving and powerful Tuesdays With Morrie turned out to be. The two actors are beyond praise. Epstein delicately evokes wisdom and love. John Tenney is wonderful. On this ground, the flowers of humanity grow.” – New York Post
“Making the language of the book crisper, cleverer…aphoristic wisdom, expressed with gallows wit.” – The New York Times
“You’ll Laugh! You’ll Cry!” – Variety
“The evening has an aura of celebration. Just what the doctor ordered, you are likely to be moved. Superbly directed by David Esbjornson.” – The Journal News
“Packed with humor and insight. Make time for it.” – The Fayetteville Observer
“Rewarding. Go see it any day of the week.” – WOR-AM
“It’s a wonderful duet of friendship, love, forgiveness and wisdom passed on, all of it imparted without a trace of sanctimony or spurious manipulation. As you walk out of the theater, you’ll feel you need them in your life as much as they need each other. ” – Telegram.com
“Highly engaging, thought-provoking, witty and cathartic” – New Zealand Performing Arts Review
