Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom is an internationally renowned and best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, playwright, radio and television broadcaster and musician. His books have collectively sold more than 40 million copies worldwide; have been published in 51 territories and in 48 languages around the world; and have been made into Emmy Award-winning and critically-acclaimed television movies. In 2006, he founded the nonprofit SAY Detroit, an organization for major health, housing and education initiatives for Detroit's most underserved citizens, which also includes a dessert shop and a gourmet popcorn line to fund them. He also operates a home and school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which he visits monthly. He lives with his wife, Janine, in Michigan. Mitch Albom was born on May 23, 1958 in Passaic, New Jersey, the middle of three children to Rhoda and Ira Albom. The family moved to the Buffalo, N.Y. area briefly before settling in Oaklyn, New Jersey, not far from Philadelphia. Mitch grew up wanting to be a cartoonist before switching to music. He taught himself to play piano, and played in bands, including The Lucky Tiger Grease Stick Band, throughout his adolescence. After attending high schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, he left for college after his junior year. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1979 at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, majoring in sociology, but stayed true to his dream of a life in music, and upon graduation, he worked for several years as a performer, both in Europe and America. One of his engagements during this time included a taverna on t