Mitch Albom at a Glance

Full Name: Mitchell David Albom

Pronunciation: MICH AL-buhm

Born: May 23, 1958

Nationality: United States

Education:

• Brandeis University (BA, Sociology)
• Columbia University (MA, Journalism)
• Columbia University (MBA, Business)

Genres:

• Inspirational nonfiction
• Inspirational fiction
• Historical fiction
• Screenplays
• Plays
• Journalism

Biography & Background

Mitch Albom Biography

Mitch Albom is an American author best known for his inspirational fiction and nonfiction. Born and raised in New Jersey and New York, Albom studied sociology at Brandeis University before getting a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. He built a career as a nationally recognized sports journalist, freelancing for publications like Sports Illustrated and The Philadelphia Inquirer before moving to full-time journalism with the Detroit Free Press. Albom won several awards for his sportswriting, including the Associated Press Sports Editors Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 1995, Albom reconnected with his former sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, after seeing him interviewed on television about living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He began visiting Schwartz every Tuesday, and he wrote and published his first book, Tuesdays with Morrie, in an effort to help with Schwartz’s medical bills. The book became a New York Times bestseller, spending 205 weeks on the list, and was adapted into a television movie that garnered four Emmy awards.

Albom followed Tuesdays with Morrie with his first fiction book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, another New York Times bestseller.