Tuesdays with Morrie

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:About Template:Refimprove Template:Infobox book Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man and Life's Greatest Lesson is a 1997 memoir by American author Mitch Albom. The book is about a series of visits Albom made to his former Brandeis University sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, as Schwartz was dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).<ref name=NYT2/><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Albom's subsequent memoir has been widely reviewed and has received critical attention after features by The Boston Globe and Nightline about Schwartz's dying.<ref name="NYT2" /><ref name="BG1" /><ref name="BG2" /><ref name="Koppel1" /><ref name="Koppel2" />Template:Citation needed lead Template:What

The book spent 206 weeks on the New York Times Non-Fiction Bestsellers List and remained on the New York Times Best Seller list for several years;<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> as of 2006, it was the best-selling memoir of all time.<ref name=":1" />Template:Better source Template:Update after

SynopsisEdit

Author Mitch Albom is a successful sports columnist. In 1995, Albom contacts his former sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, after seeing him on Nightline afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Albom is prompted to visit Schwartz in Massachusetts, where a coincidental newspaper strike allows him to visit every Tuesday. The book is divided into 14 days, each containing one of Albom's visits to Schwartz. Each visit includes lectures from Morrie on life experiences with flashbacks and references to contemporary events. Schwartz's final days, ultimately, are spent giving Albom his final lesson of life.<ref name="Kirkus">Template:Cite news</ref>

Main charactersEdit

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Mitch AlbomEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Mitch Albom was born in May 1958 in New Jersey.Template:Fact Originally, he was a pianist and wanted to pursue a life as a musician.Template:Fact Instead, Albom became a journalist and later an author, screenwriter, and television/radio broadcasterTemplate:Fact In college, he met sociology professor Dr. Morrie Schwartz, who would later be the focal point of the memoir Tuesdays with Morrie.Template:Fact

Morrie SchwartzEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Morrie Schwartz was a sociology professor at Brandeis University who was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, at the age of 77 in August 1994.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The son of Russian immigrants, Schwartz had a difficult childhood, indelibly marked by the death of his mother and his brother's infection with the polio virus.Template:Fact He later went on to work as a researcher in a mental hospital, where he learned about mental illness and how to have empathy and compassion for other people; later in life, he decided to become a sociology professor in hopes of putting his accumulated wisdom to use.Template:Fact This is where Schwartz met his student Mitch Albom, who would later become a lifelong friend.Template:Fact Schwartz was married to Charlotte Schwartz, with whom he had two children.Template:Fact After a long battle with ALS, Schwartz died on November 4, 1995.Template:Fact His tombstone reads, "A teacher until the end."Template:Fact

The Boston Globe and Nightline antecedentsEdit

In March 1995, Jack Thomas of The Boston Globe wrote a piece on Schwartz, titled "A Professor's Final Course: His Own Death."<ref name = BG1>Template:Cite news Note, the date presented in this reference is of that of the original publication, rather than the October 19, 2022, date of its republication from that newspaper's archive.</ref><ref name = BG2>Template:Cite news</ref> Ted Koppel became aware of the article, and a decision was made to conduct a series of interviews with Schwartz, which began later in March and which were then edited and presented on Nightline.<ref name = Koppel1>Template:Cite AV media Note, the date presented in this reference is of that of the original event broadcast, though the specific date on a Friday is unknown; it is not the October 1, 2016, presentation date for the video at YouTube. As a non-standard and non-original source lacking that original dating, this citation should be replaced with an authentic video from ABC News.</ref><ref name = Koppel2>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref name = AlbomDFP081121>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Better source It was through this program's airing that Schwartz's former student, Albom, was reminded of his old professor, leading Albom to reach out and reconnect.<ref name = AlbomDFP081121/>Template:Better source

ReceptionEdit

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PopularEdit

Tuesdays with Morrie spent 206 weeks on the New York Times Non-Fiction Bestsellers List and remained on the New York Times Best Seller list for several years.<ref name=":0" /> In July 2006, Tuesdays with Morrie was the best selling memoir of all time.<ref name=":1" />Template:Better source

CriticalEdit

Template:Expand section Albom's book has been widely reviewed since its appearance in 1997.<ref name=NYT2>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Publication historyEdit

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Template:Cite book Template:Better source Hardcover. The ISBN-13 for this version is stated as 9780385484510. Note, not all Wikipedia Inbox information is confirmed by these sources.

Other editionsEdit

An unabridged audiobook was also published and narrated by Albom. The appendix of the audiobook contains several minutes of excerpts from audio recordings that Albom made during his conversations with Schwartz before writing the book. A new edition with an afterword by Albom was released on the book's twentieth anniversary in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

AdaptationsEdit

The book was adapted into a 1999 television film directed by Mick Jackson, starring Jack Lemmon.<ref name=NYT>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Note, this source contains no information about the 1997 book.</ref> as Schwartz and Hank Azaria as Albom.

The book's author, Mitch Albom, and esteemed playwright Jeffrey Hatcher joined forces for a stage play adaptation that premiered Off Broadway in November 2002 at the Minetta Lane Theatre. Directed by David Esbjornson, it starred Alvin Epstein as Schwartz and Jon Tenney as Albom. A revival of the play, featuring Len Cariou as Schwartz and Chris Domig as Albom, was presented by the Sea Dog Theater company at St. George's Episcopal Church in the spring of 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>