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Mitch Albom Biography
born: May 23, 1958 (Trenton, New Jersey, USA)
Mitchell David Albom is an award-winning sportswriter novelist,
newspaper columnist for the Detroit Free Press, syndicated
radio host, and TV commentator. Born in Trenton, New Jersey,
in the USA, he is a graduate of Brandeis University and Columbia
University. Before becoming a journalist, Albom was briefly
an amateur boxer, nightclub singer, and pianist.
Albom wrote the best-selling book, Tuesdays
With Morrie, which was published in 1997. After being
featured prominently in Oprah Winfrey's Oprah's Book Club,
the book sold exceptionally well, and Oprah Winfrey produced
a television movie adaptation for ABC starring Hank Azaria
and Jack Lemmon. The television movie adaptation of Tuesdays
with Morrie was the most watched television movie of 1999
and won four Emmy Awards. His most recent book is the New
York Times best-seller, The
Five People You Meet in Heaven (2003). It has sold
very well, although critics have not had kind words for its
sentimentalism. That book was turned into a television movie
for ABC starring Jon Voight, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Imperioli
and Jeff Daniels. A parody of the book, called The Five People
You Meet in Hell by Jeff Pablum has recently appeared on bookstore
shelves.
After his experiences with Morrie Schwartz, subject of Tuesdays
with Morrie, he started a Detroit volunteer group
in 1998 called "A Time to Help". Every month, the
group (affiliated with Volunteer Impact) does a project to
help serve and improve the Detroit community. Projects have
included work at homeless shelters, food banks, senior citizens
homes, and orphanages. Mitch and his radio co-host Ken Brown
lead each project and try to use the group as a catalyst to
increase volunteerism.
Mitch
Albom is also part of a rock band, The Rock Bottom Remainders,
whose members are all published writers.
Mitch
Albom appears regularly on ESPN's The Sports Reporters and
SportsCenter. His radio show airs on WJR radio in Detroit
from 5 to 7 p.m. ET, as of 2006. The radio show was simulcast
on MSNBC in 2001.
Albom was the center of a journalistic controversy in April
2005. His column on April 3 described former Michigan State
University Spartans Mateen Cleaves and Jason Richardson cheering
Michigan State University at a Final Four game against North
Carolina on April 2. However, he later announced that this
was not true: the players were never at the game. Upon an
internal investigation, the Detroit Free Press explained that
Albom's column was written based on interviews he'd had with
the two players the week prior to the game. They had both
expressed plans to be at the game, but ultimately were unable
to go. Albom did not have an opportunity to omit this in his
column, however, because the deadline for the Sunday column
was April 1 (the night before the actual game). The newspaper
declared that disciplinary actions would be taken. Some called
for Albom's resignation. Others continued to show support.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
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article "Mitch Albom"
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Books
Tuesdays with Morrie (1997)
The
Five People you meet in Heaven (2003)
Other
Links
Mitch
Albom's Website
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