Mitch Albom
Author of Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson
About the Author
Mitch Albom was born on May 23, 1958 in Passaic, New Jersey. He received a bachelor's degree in sociology from Brandeis University in 1979 and a master's degrees in journalism and business administration from Columbia University. He is an author, a newspaper columnist for the Detroit Free Press, show more and a nationally syndicated radio host for ABC. He is the author of several bestselling books including Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, For One More Day, The Timekeeper, The First Phone Call from Heaven, and The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto: A Novel. Oprah Winfrey produced a television movie for ABC based on Tuesdays with Morrie that aired in 1999 and won four Emmy Awards in 2000. The Five People You Meet in Heaven and For One More Day were also turned into ABC television movies. He has been named the #1 Sports Columnist in the Nation by the sports editors of America. During his career, he has received more than 100 writing awards from AP, UPI, Headliners Club, and National Sportswriters and Broadcasters Associations, as well as had his work appear in numerous publications, such as Sports Illustrated, GQ, Sport, The New York Times, TV Guide, and USA Today. He hosts two radio talk shows for ABC: The Mitch Albom Show and The Mitch Albom Show on the Weekend. He has founded two charities in the metropolitan Detroit area. The Dream Fund, which allows disadvantaged children to become involved with the arts and A Time to Help, which brings volunteers together once a month to tackle various projects in Detroit, including staffing shelters, building homes with Habitat for Humanity, and operating meals on wheels programs for the elderly. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Mitch Albom at Disney ABC Television Group & The Hallmark Hall of Fame premiere of "Have A Little Faith" at Fox Studios on November 3, 2011 in Century City, California
Series
Works by Mitch Albom
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson (1997) 23,310 copies, 393 reviews
The Next Person You Meet in Heaven: The Sequel to The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2018) 1,204 copies, 29 reviews
Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family (2019) 631 copies, 25 reviews
Tuesdays With Morrie / The Five People You Meet in Heaven / For One More Day / Have a Little Faith / The Next Person You Meet in Heaven (2020) — Author — 3 copies
Tuesdays With Morrie / The Five People You Meet in Heaven / For One More Day / Have a Little Faith (2012) 2 copies
Michelle Lang's Biography 2 copies
Filikadaki Yabancı 1 copy
Spring Redemption 1 copy
Associated Works
Flashing Before My Eyes: 50 Years of Headlines, Deadlines & Punchlines (2001) — Introduction — 63 copies, 2 reviews
Augie's Quest: One Man's Journey from Success to Significance (2007) — Foreword, some editions — 28 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Albom, Mitchell David
- Birthdate
- 1958-05-23
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Akiba Hebrew Academy
Brandeis University (B.A., 1979)
Columbia University (M.A., Journalism)
Columbia University (M.B.A.)
Berklee College of Music (1979) - Occupations
- journalist
broadcaster
songwriter
lyricist
playwright
radio host (show all 7)
columnist - Organizations
- S.A.Y. (Super All Year)
Rock Bottom Remainders
The Dream Fund
A Time to Help
WJR
Detroit Free Press - Awards and honors
- National Hospice Organization's Man of the Year (1999)
- Agent
- David Black
- Relationships
- Schwartz, Morrie (professor)
- Short biography
- Mitch Albom is the author of the international bestsellers Tuesdays With Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and For One More Day, which collectively have sold more than 26 million copies worldwide. His books 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. He is also the author of two New York Times bestselling sports books and four anthologies of his newspaper column for the Detroit Free Press. He also writes screenplays and stage plays. Albom serves on numerous charitable boards, and has founded three charities in the Detroit area. He lives with his wife, Janine, in Michigan.
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Passaic, New Jersey, USA
- Places of residence
- Passaic, New Jersey, USA
New York, New York, USA
Detroit, Michigan, USA - Map Location
- USA
Members
Reviews
🏷️ Genre
Contemporary Fiction
Philosophical / Spiritual Fiction
Literary Fiction
🔮 Tropes & Themes
Life After Death
Interconnected Lives
Grief & Healing
Forgiveness & Redemption
Finding Meaning in the Ordinary
💭 My Thoughts
Normally, my five-star reads are books I adore so deeply that I want to reread them again and again. This one earns five stars for a very different reason.
This book is pure, gentle, and profoundly well-written. It’s eye-opening in the quietest way—the kind that seeps show more into your bones and stays there.
As someone who has endured a great deal of grief in her lifetime, this story touched my soul. At its core, The Five People You Meet in Heaven wrestles with the questions most of us carry, whether we admit it or not:
Did my life matter?
Did I have a purpose?
Will I ever find peace?
Finding peace is something many of us hope for before we die—but especially after. This book explores forgiveness, purpose, and the ever-haunting why of our existence. And while some readers find it preachy, I found it deeply consoling. It offers hope. It offers understanding. And perhaps most importantly, it offers permission to let go of anger we’ve been carrying far too long.
Truthfully, I probably never would have picked this book up on my own, which makes me incredibly grateful to one of the women in my book club for recommending it. Sometimes the books we need most are the ones we wouldn’t choose for ourselves.
✨ Favorite Quotes
“This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. To have it explained. It is the peace you have been searching for.”
“There are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.”
“It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn’t just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed.”
“No story sits by itself. Sometimes stories meet at corners and sometimes they cover one another completely, like stones beneath a river.”
“All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped.”
“We move through places every day that would never have been if not for those who came before us.”
🌙 my final thoughts
Sometimes we resist a path with everything we have, only to find ourselves right back where we never wanted to be. Fate can feel cruel… or it can feel justified. And who are we, really, to judge where we end up?
This book doesn’t give easy answers—but it gives something better: understanding.
And that, to me, makes it unforgettable. 💫
I will note the reason it did take me long to read this very small book is because I kept allowing myself distractions, lol. But it really is a good book show less
Contemporary Fiction
Philosophical / Spiritual Fiction
Literary Fiction
🔮 Tropes & Themes
Life After Death
Interconnected Lives
Grief & Healing
Forgiveness & Redemption
Finding Meaning in the Ordinary
💭 My Thoughts
Normally, my five-star reads are books I adore so deeply that I want to reread them again and again. This one earns five stars for a very different reason.
This book is pure, gentle, and profoundly well-written. It’s eye-opening in the quietest way—the kind that seeps show more into your bones and stays there.
As someone who has endured a great deal of grief in her lifetime, this story touched my soul. At its core, The Five People You Meet in Heaven wrestles with the questions most of us carry, whether we admit it or not:
Did my life matter?
Did I have a purpose?
Will I ever find peace?
Finding peace is something many of us hope for before we die—but especially after. This book explores forgiveness, purpose, and the ever-haunting why of our existence. And while some readers find it preachy, I found it deeply consoling. It offers hope. It offers understanding. And perhaps most importantly, it offers permission to let go of anger we’ve been carrying far too long.
Truthfully, I probably never would have picked this book up on my own, which makes me incredibly grateful to one of the women in my book club for recommending it. Sometimes the books we need most are the ones we wouldn’t choose for ourselves.
✨ Favorite Quotes
“This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. To have it explained. It is the peace you have been searching for.”
“There are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.”
“It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn’t just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed.”
“No story sits by itself. Sometimes stories meet at corners and sometimes they cover one another completely, like stones beneath a river.”
“All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped.”
“We move through places every day that would never have been if not for those who came before us.”
🌙 my final thoughts
Sometimes we resist a path with everything we have, only to find ourselves right back where we never wanted to be. Fate can feel cruel… or it can feel justified. And who are we, really, to judge where we end up?
This book doesn’t give easy answers—but it gives something better: understanding.
And that, to me, makes it unforgettable. 💫
I will note the reason it did take me long to read this very small book is because I kept allowing myself distractions, lol. But it really is a good book show less
I expected to hate this book - 'what if you could spend one more day with your dead mother'. It sounded schmaltzy, weep-inducing and full-on syrup overload. I suppose it was all those things, but it was also a brilliant read which I would have read in one sitting if circumstances had allowed.
I had to get up really early this morning, and it was already way past my bedtime last night, but I kept telling myself "Just one more chapter...". This went on for over an hour. This afternoon I was show more devastated as I thought I'd get to finish it on my commute from work but a neighbour chose to sit beside me and chat on the bus instead.
My point is, this is one of those books that you don't have to think too hard about. From the first page you're 'in', and it's a gallop thereafter. If you've recently lost a parent this book may be too raw, but on the other hand it may give you some comfort and remind you that parents don't judge us the way we judge ourselves. They know that sometimes we're just busy living our lives.
A quick, beautiful read with some simple messages: it's never too late to right wrongs in your life, and your mother loves you no matter what. Amen to that.
4.5 stars - this is no literary masterpiece, but it's addictive nonetheless. Maybe it's all that sugary syrup... show less
I had to get up really early this morning, and it was already way past my bedtime last night, but I kept telling myself "Just one more chapter...". This went on for over an hour. This afternoon I was show more devastated as I thought I'd get to finish it on my commute from work but a neighbour chose to sit beside me and chat on the bus instead.
My point is, this is one of those books that you don't have to think too hard about. From the first page you're 'in', and it's a gallop thereafter. If you've recently lost a parent this book may be too raw, but on the other hand it may give you some comfort and remind you that parents don't judge us the way we judge ourselves. They know that sometimes we're just busy living our lives.
A quick, beautiful read with some simple messages: it's never too late to right wrongs in your life, and your mother loves you no matter what. Amen to that.
4.5 stars - this is no literary masterpiece, but it's addictive nonetheless. Maybe it's all that sugary syrup... show less
A man, to be forgiven, will do anything.
This is about the Holocaust, and can be very triggering as it goes into details of abuse and suffering that no one should have endured. While this is fiction, the author went to great lengths to stay as close to the truth as he could.
I had come across this book, as I often do when it comes to my owned library, by abandonment from someone else. I was not fully aware what it was going to be about before getting into it. Mitch Albom has a very easy to show more read flow and it helped keep the storyline, so heavy with betrayal and tragedy, from feeling like a slog or heavy handed in it's message. To me, anyway.
The characters are the stars, as they are meant to be. Fanny, Nico, Sebastian, and Udo Graf are the 3rd person POVs we get, and they each are written in such a way that differs them drastically from eachother, as they should.
I adored Nico, his character was so intriguing. His arc is the main focus of the book, as his actions put basically everything else in motion. Well, perhaps it's Udo Graf's actions, and the Wolf, who really put things into motion, but when it comes to these specific characters, Nico is the orchestrator. He is such a complex character, and I found him so understandable and heart-wrenching. I would read another book just about him and his travels and many lives.
Fanny, however, is the heart of the book. This isn't always clear, and I do have gripes that she often seems to be reduced down to her role in the men's lives rather than her own person. While she has her own unique path inside the Holocaust, the first half of the book really keeps the focus on her feelings for them or their feelings for her, outside of her time hiding in Hungary which is light in a dark tunnel. And once the author decided that she was totally content from the trauma after giving birth and becoming a mother, I had to gag. But, thankfully, her role opens up in the 2nd half and I found her to be so compelling, even more than the other characters. She still is a catalyst for the men more than anything else, but I see the complex character she really is, between the lines. Jewish girl, orphan, runaway, surrogate daughter, prisoner, walker, survivor, wife, mother, lover, traveler, projectionist, mourner, murderer, avenger. And the ending above all... well done.
I loved that the narration was done in the voice of Truth. This was a great touch that kept all the storylines tied together, even as the characters were countries apart from eachother. Through Truth, there is some very poignant commentary, as one would expect from a story dealing within these topics. I found it most significant when the author touches on hate in humanity- the Germans were not necessarily inclined to hate Jews, but if you can take an unhappy group of people and then point at another, often disenfranchised, group and say they are the blame for the unhappiness... well, we see everyday how easy that works. Jewish people, immigrants, queer people, Black Americans, Mexicans, etc. These groups have all been blamed for making, especially the USA but other countries as well, the world impure, undesirable, crowded. They are blamed for low productivity, lack of jobs, for drugs, for rapes, for ruining children. Remember, you are not immune to propaganda.
Another significant dialogue Mitch brings up is forgetting, and why Never Forget is the unofficial slogan when we talk about the Holocaust today. When society forgets about a tragedy, it is very easy for it to be repeated. This reminded me a lot of how many Americans have spouted that Black Americans, and everyone else, should just 'get over' slavery because it happened 'so long ago'. Which it didn't and it should never be forgotten either. No atrocity should be swept under the rug so that fascists and eugenicists can repeat it in a modern age. They are the ones who benefit from us forgetting.
Above all else, FUCK NAZIS. show less
This is about the Holocaust, and can be very triggering as it goes into details of abuse and suffering that no one should have endured. While this is fiction, the author went to great lengths to stay as close to the truth as he could.
I had come across this book, as I often do when it comes to my owned library, by abandonment from someone else. I was not fully aware what it was going to be about before getting into it. Mitch Albom has a very easy to show more read flow and it helped keep the storyline, so heavy with betrayal and tragedy, from feeling like a slog or heavy handed in it's message. To me, anyway.
The characters are the stars, as they are meant to be. Fanny, Nico, Sebastian, and Udo Graf are the 3rd person POVs we get, and they each are written in such a way that differs them drastically from eachother, as they should.
I adored Nico, his character was so intriguing. His arc is the main focus of the book, as his actions put basically everything else in motion. Well, perhaps it's Udo Graf's actions, and the Wolf, who really put things into motion, but when it comes to these specific characters, Nico is the orchestrator. He is such a complex character, and I found him so understandable and heart-wrenching. I would read another book just about him and his travels and many lives.
Fanny, however, is the heart of the book. This isn't always clear, and I do have gripes that she often seems to be reduced down to her role in the men's lives rather than her own person. While she has her own unique path inside the Holocaust, the first half of the book really keeps the focus on her feelings for them or their feelings for her, outside of her time hiding in Hungary which is light in a dark tunnel. And once the author decided that she was totally content from the trauma after giving birth and becoming a mother, I had to gag. But, thankfully, her role opens up in the 2nd half and I found her to be so compelling, even more than the other characters. She still is a catalyst for the men more than anything else, but I see the complex character she really is, between the lines. Jewish girl, orphan, runaway, surrogate daughter, prisoner, walker, survivor, wife, mother, lover, traveler, projectionist, mourner, murderer, avenger. And the ending above all... well done.
I loved that the narration was done in the voice of Truth. This was a great touch that kept all the storylines tied together, even as the characters were countries apart from eachother. Through Truth, there is some very poignant commentary, as one would expect from a story dealing within these topics. I found it most significant when the author touches on hate in humanity- the Germans were not necessarily inclined to hate Jews, but if you can take an unhappy group of people and then point at another, often disenfranchised, group and say they are the blame for the unhappiness... well, we see everyday how easy that works. Jewish people, immigrants, queer people, Black Americans, Mexicans, etc. These groups have all been blamed for making, especially the USA but other countries as well, the world impure, undesirable, crowded. They are blamed for low productivity, lack of jobs, for drugs, for rapes, for ruining children. Remember, you are not immune to propaganda.
Another significant dialogue Mitch brings up is forgetting, and why Never Forget is the unofficial slogan when we talk about the Holocaust today. When society forgets about a tragedy, it is very easy for it to be repeated. This reminded me a lot of how many Americans have spouted that Black Americans, and everyone else, should just 'get over' slavery because it happened 'so long ago'. Which it didn't and it should never be forgotten either. No atrocity should be swept under the rug so that fascists and eugenicists can repeat it in a modern age. They are the ones who benefit from us forgetting.
Above all else, FUCK NAZIS. show less
The Stranger in the Lifeboat: The uplifting new novel from the bestselling author of Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Bought on a whim in a Berlin bookstore (What made me buy this? Screaming sales talk? Since when do biblical fairytales become bestsellers?). Such a mistake.
A yacht with a bunch of extremely rich people explodes in the Atlantic ocean, 100 miles west of Cape Verde. Ten people find themselves in a lifeboat, only one survives (SAVED BY GOD!). Christian fairy tale that lacks any depth or layered plot.
This evangelist uses crafty gimmick to keep this thin story interesting: he applies alternating show more story lines. One story line is a simple progressive narrative of a person (Benji) who kept a diary while the drama in the lifeboat unfolded. Another story line progresses in time on Montserrat (Caribbean island) and features a Policeman (LeFleur – he drinks and smokes! He neglects his wife. He HAS LOST THE FAITH) who lost his daughter four years ago (accidentally drowned in the sea). LeFleur is called by a stranger to a deserted beach on the island where the remains of the lifeboat have been pushed ashore. LeFleur discovers the diary of Benji. The stranger has a biblical name (Rom something – meaning ‘lifted by God’- referring to the all too predictable moment when Benji saw THE LIGHT and was SAVED BY GOD). Finally a third story line in italics concerns transcripts from news reports in the media related to the sinking of the yacht, allowing Mitch to tell us more about the famous people whose lives presumably have been lost, while we are with them in Benji’s story. So ok. Two stars because the man can write.
But this story is soooooo boring, one-dimensional and predictable. Already on page one a man climbs aboard the lifeboat (after three days at sea) who claims to be the Lord (later it turns out he is an Angel: a little girl that hasn’t spoken is God and brought this Angel to interact with the fellow travelers). The story has all the elements of a confessional and evangelical saviour story. One after the other dies. Several miracles are performed by the Angel who gets killed by the rich bad man. Benji has to repent for his sins after becoming the only one left with the Alice God girl. Benji then sees THE LIGHT and is SAVED BY GOD. Benji becomes a MISSIONARY SPREADING THE GOOD NEWS by impersonating as Rom and bringing leFleur back to the fold of believing sheep with a superior wisdom. Rom also sends personal items of the drowned to their beloved (another string of miracles!). The yacht did not sink because of the detonation of a mine, but it was attacked by violent super whales (The DEVIL?).
What this story lacks is doubt, insight and a deeper understanding of the messiness of life. Its contradictions and uncertainties. It leaves no lasting impression on the reader. It is the same old Evangelical propaganda story with the familiar elements and smugness about those saved and drowned. It makes me puke. It leaves me feeling cheated. This kind of book should be clearly labelled for what it is – Christian propaganda. It should not be allowed to run astray in the novels section of a big bookstore… show less
A yacht with a bunch of extremely rich people explodes in the Atlantic ocean, 100 miles west of Cape Verde. Ten people find themselves in a lifeboat, only one survives (SAVED BY GOD!). Christian fairy tale that lacks any depth or layered plot.
This evangelist uses crafty gimmick to keep this thin story interesting: he applies alternating show more story lines. One story line is a simple progressive narrative of a person (Benji) who kept a diary while the drama in the lifeboat unfolded. Another story line progresses in time on Montserrat (Caribbean island) and features a Policeman (LeFleur – he drinks and smokes! He neglects his wife. He HAS LOST THE FAITH) who lost his daughter four years ago (accidentally drowned in the sea). LeFleur is called by a stranger to a deserted beach on the island where the remains of the lifeboat have been pushed ashore. LeFleur discovers the diary of Benji. The stranger has a biblical name (Rom something – meaning ‘lifted by God’- referring to the all too predictable moment when Benji saw THE LIGHT and was SAVED BY GOD). Finally a third story line in italics concerns transcripts from news reports in the media related to the sinking of the yacht, allowing Mitch to tell us more about the famous people whose lives presumably have been lost, while we are with them in Benji’s story. So ok. Two stars because the man can write.
But this story is soooooo boring, one-dimensional and predictable. Already on page one a man climbs aboard the lifeboat (after three days at sea) who claims to be the Lord (later it turns out he is an Angel: a little girl that hasn’t spoken is God and brought this Angel to interact with the fellow travelers). The story has all the elements of a confessional and evangelical saviour story. One after the other dies. Several miracles are performed by the Angel who gets killed by the rich bad man. Benji has to repent for his sins after becoming the only one left with the Alice God girl. Benji then sees THE LIGHT and is SAVED BY GOD. Benji becomes a MISSIONARY SPREADING THE GOOD NEWS by impersonating as Rom and bringing leFleur back to the fold of believing sheep with a superior wisdom. Rom also sends personal items of the drowned to their beloved (another string of miracles!). The yacht did not sink because of the detonation of a mine, but it was attacked by violent super whales (The DEVIL?).
What this story lacks is doubt, insight and a deeper understanding of the messiness of life. Its contradictions and uncertainties. It leaves no lasting impression on the reader. It is the same old Evangelical propaganda story with the familiar elements and smugness about those saved and drowned. It makes me puke. It leaves me feeling cheated. This kind of book should be clearly labelled for what it is – Christian propaganda. It should not be allowed to run astray in the novels section of a big bookstore… show less
Lists
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Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 41
- Also by
- 6
- Members
- 67,457
- Popularity
- #198
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 1,495
- ISBNs
- 615
- Languages
- 32
- Favorited
- 92
