Mitch+Albom

__ Mitch Albom __

Being an author, journalist, screenwriter, playwright, radio and television broadcaster and musician are only a few of the things Mitch Albom has accomplished during his lifetime. His books have collectively sold over 28 million copies worldwide; have been published in forty-one territories and in forty-two languages around the world; and have been made into Emmy Award-winning and critically-acclaimed television movies. Mitch was born on May 23, 1958 in the town of Passaic, New Jersey and was the middle of three children to Ira and Rhoda Albom. The family of five moved to the Buffalo, N.Y. area for a short time before settling in Oaklyn, New Jersey, not too far from Philadelphia. Mitch grew up dreaming to be a cartoonist but then switched to music. He taught himself to play the piano, and also played in bands, including The Lucky Tiger Grease Stick Band, throughout his teenage years. He attended high school in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania and graduated after his junior year before attending Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Majoring in sociology, Mitch received his bachelors degree in 1979, but although it wasn’t involving music he still stayed true to following his dream of a lifetime a music. After graduation Mitch Albom began working as a performer over in Europe and in America. During his venture in Europe, an obligation that put him in the spotlight was at a tavern on the Greek island of Crete, in which he was a featured American performer who sang Elvis Presley and Ray Charles songs. As Mitch Albom reached his twenties, while living in New York he began to gain an interest in journalism and volunteered to work for a local weekly paper, the Queens Tribune. After that, he returned to graduate school, earning a Master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and soon after 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 newspapers in Florida, The Fort Lauderdale News and Sun Sentinel. 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 Detroit History. In 1995, Mitch married his wife Janine Sabino, but the two have had no children. The same year Albom married his wife, he re-encountered his old college professor Morrie Schwartz. Morrie was dying of ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease and Mitch often paid him visits and wrote about them in his famous book //Tuesdays With Morrie//. Mitch primarily wrote the book to help pay for Morrie’s medical bills. Not knowing the impact it would have on the world, the book became a New York Times Bestseller, and kept that title for four whole years and it is still considered on of the best written memoirs ever written. The books creation and popularity caused Albom to become more of an author then a sports writer and broadcaster. His first novel he ever wrote, T//he Five People You Meet in Heave,// is the most successful US hardcover first adult novel ever. With two bestseller books under his belt, Mitch didn’t hesitate to continue writing. In October 2006, //For One More Day// was the first book chosen by Starbucks in the new Book Break Program, which also aided in fighting illiteracy by donating one dollar from every book sold to Jumpstart. His most recent, //Have a Little Faith//, was released in September 2009 and selected by Oprah.com as the best nonfiction book of 2009. With fame came more fame for Mitch Albom. All three of his bestsellers have become movies, and successful ones too. Oprah Winfrey produced the film version of //Tuesdays With Morrie// in December 1999. The film accumulated four Emmy awards, including best TV film, director, actor, and supporting actor. In 2004, the critically acclaimed //Five People You Meet in Heaven// aired on ABC in winter. The film was the most watched TV movie of the year, with 19 million viewers. Oprah continued to work with Mitch and most recently made, //Oprah Winfrey Presents Mitch Albom’s For One More Day,// // and // it aired on ABC in December 2007. As Albom continued to write, he began to becom a part of the theatre, including the Broadway version of //Tuesdays With Morrie,// and soon after his Broadway affair he became an accomplishes song writer and lyricist. Mitch Albom continues to write, broadcast, and perform but has been a influential person with his works of charity. Albom has founded four charities, many in the metropolitan Detroit area: The Dream Fund, A Time To Help, and S.A.Y Detroit, an umbrella organization for charities dedicated to improving the lives of the neediest, including the S.A.Y. Detroit Family Health Clinic. His most recent effort, A Hole in the Roof Foundation**,** helps faith groups of every religious belief who care for the homeless. The insperation 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//. Mitch 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. Today, Mitch lives in Detroit with his wife Janine.