Mitch Albom

New York Times Bestselling Author | Mega Philanthropist | Sports Reporter
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Mitch Albom is an internationally renowned bestselling author, journalist, and devout philanthropist. His books, which include the #1 bestselling memoir of all time, Tuesdays with Morrie, have collectively sold more than 40 million copies in 48 languages worldwide. Much like his books and presentations on stage, his nationally syndicated column at Detroit Free Press offers accessible cultural commentary that invites readers to reflect on their own lives, values, and the broader human experience. He is the founder of SAY Detroit, an umbrella organization that is home to nine charities dedicated to improving the lives of Detroit’s underserved population. He also founded and operates the Have Faith Haiti orphanage in Port Au Prince, Haiti, which he has visited every month since 2010 without exception.
 
Albom is the author of ten New York Times bestsellers, with eight debuting at #1 on the Best Seller List, including The First Phone Call from HeavenHave A Little FaithThe Five People You Meet in Heaven, and its sequel, The Next Person You Meet in HeavenTuesdays with Morrie, written to cover his dying professor’s medical bills, spent four years on the Best Seller List and celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022. More recent bestselling titles include Finding Chika and The Stranger in the Lifeboat, which also debuted at #1. In 2020, he wrote Human Touch, a weekly serial written and published online which raised nearly $1 million for pandemic relief. His newest novel, The Little Liar, told against the backdrop of the Holocaust, delves into the value of truth and the harm born from the lies we tell.
 
When he’s not writing, Albom spends majority of his time in philanthropic work. Through programs like the SAY Detroit Family Health Clinic and Working Homes/Working Families, he provides Detroit residents with free healthcare, housing, scholarships, and more. SAY Detroit was established in response to the temporary nature of providing homeless individuals with three-day shelter parties during the Super Bowl only to return them to the streets on Monday once tourists departed. Albom put out a call to action to instead care for those citizens in need. With that, SAY (Super All Year) Detroit was born.
 
Albom created two dessert shops, the Detroit Water Ice Factory and Brown Bag Popcorn, whose profits go 100 percent to fund the SAY Detroit programs and provide employment opportunities in the city. He also directs the Have Faith Haiti Mission in Port Au Prince, which helps impoverished children and orphans, as well as the Chika Fund, which provides life-saving medical costs and health care.
 
With over 20 years on ESPN, and through his work at the Detroit Free Press and as a panelist on The Sports Reporters podcast, Albom has been named the #1 Sports Columnist in the Nation by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) 13 times. He was honored with the APSE Red Smith Award for lifetime achievement, the biggest prize in sports journalism, and was inducted into both the National Sports Media Association’s Hall of Fame and the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. Albom hosts two radio shows on WJR-AM and has appeared regularly on The Today ShowOprah, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, The View, FOX and Friends, and many more. His articles have been featured in the New York TimesGQSports Illustrated, and Reader’s Digest

Topics

Tuesdays with Morrie: Lessons for Living

Maybe it was a grandparent, a teacher, a colleague – someone who helped you see the world as a more profound place and gave you advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago. Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together during Morrie’s battle with ALS and Mitch’s struggle to find meaning and purpose in his life. Mitch will share the priceless lessons learned from this wise friend during his last days.

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The Little Liar

We’ve all told a little white lie here and there—to spare someone’s feelings or to avoid an argument. But what happens when the lies we tell have more dire consequences? Bestselling author Mitch Albom’s newest book The Little Liar, set during the Holocaust, tells the story of a young boy whose renown as a truth-teller is weaponized by Nazis in Salonika, Greece. Upon learning of the role he unwittingly played in leading his own community of Jews—his family included—to their deaths at Auschwitz, he becomes a pathological liar. In an age where our leaders and major public figures lie with increasing frequency and shamelessness, and with intensifying consequences to society, a reassessment of the value of truth is much needed. In this talk, Albom dives deep into the harm we inflict with our deceits, and the power of love to ultimately redeem us.

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Stranger in the Lifeboat

Bestselling author Mitch Albom’s book The Stranger in the Lifeboat tells the story of a group of shipwrecked passengers adrift at sea who save a man from certain death, floating in the ocean. When he comes to, he reveals himself to be the Lord, and says the only way he can save them all is if everyone aboard the raft believes in him. This novel of hope and faith asks the reader, “What happens when we ask for help, but it arrives in an unexpected way?” In this talk, Mitch explores all facets of help: how we ask for it, how we recognize it, how we accept it. Can we move beyond immediate and easily recognizable answers to appreciate the gifts that have come to fruition in the long run? Can we look deeper into periods of pain and see the beautiful offshoots born from that time?

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Philanthropy in Action: A Commitment to Changing Lives

Mitch Albom is the epitome of philanthropy done right. He’s not the type to volunteer once a year for the photo op or write a check for the tax write-off and call it a day—and he has founded nearly a dozen overtly impactful charities between Detroit and Haiti to prove it. But he wasn’t always this way. Early in his career, prior to the time he spent with his professor Morrie Schwartz on his deathbed, Mitch was committed only to his own ambition and personal gain. It was through witnessing Morrie’s priorities in his last days that Mitch was able to shift his perspective on giving back. Now when he sees a need in his community and abroad, he makes it his mission to ensure that need is met. From providing permanent housing to families in need to personally adopting a young child to ensure she received life-saving healthcare, Mitch is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of those around him. Through powerful narratives and engaging video from over 30 years of boot-on-the-ground philanthropic work, Mitch will demonstrate what it takes to truly be the change you wish to see in the world and how corporations can make meaningful impacts in their communities.

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Have a Little Faith: How Trusting Others Can Change the World

Mitch Albom talks about why faith is still needed and embraced in a modern world where we think we know all the answers. Rather than divide us, Albom found—through time spent with an inner-city pastor of a poor church and an aging rabbi of a wealthy suburban synagogue—that faith can pull us together. That it unites us in our humanity. Albom shares stories about faith amongst the poor, the well-to-do, the homeless, and those who once felt God did not exist. He addresses questions such as: What do we all have in common in our hearts—no matter what house of worship we attend? How does the belief in something bigger than us give us insight, wisdom and comfort? How does faith help when bad things happen? And what can we learn from each other’s faith that can make the world, the workplace, our neighborhoods and our daily lives more harmonious? Expanding on themes already developed in his works Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet In Heaven, Mitch Albom weaves a captivating and uplifting message about the potential in all of us for a giving, meaningful life.

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Giving is Living

Mitch Albom learned many penetrating life lessons from Morrie Schwartz, a professor he reconnected with in his final days before succumbing to ALS. The one that sticks with him the most is “giving is living.” Morrie once said, “Taking makes me feel like I’m dying. Giving makes me feel like I’m living.” This simple yet powerful idea changed the course of Mitch’s life forever. Since then, he has founded nearly a dozen charities between Detroit and Haiti, bettering the situations of countless people around the world. In this talk, Mitch asks you to adopt this mentality, to embody a giving spirit, not just around the holidays when it’s popular, but year-round—every day that you are fortunate to take another breath. In doing so, you not only make a difference in the lives of others, but also add vibrancy and vitality to your own life.

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Videos

Mitch Albom in Conversation with Malcolm Gladwell: The Little Liar
Mitch Albom
Author Mitch Albom says he wanted to tell story of "lies and truth" in "The Little Liar"
Mitch Albom
Mitch Albom talks using truth as the narrator in ‘The Little Liar’
Mitch Albom
SHRM 2023 Annual Conference
Mitch Albom
When Mitch Albom found Chika
Mitch Albom

Articles

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Patrick Mahomes in rarefied air with 3rd Super Bowl victory in OT thriller
Detroit Free Press
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What is too old? A stare of mind, or a state of criticism?
Detroit Free Press
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Denying the Holocaust continues the legacy of the lies that created it
Detroit Free Press
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A captivating allegory about evil, lies, and forgiveness
Kirkus Reviews
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Mitch Albom spins moving Holocaust tale in 'The Little Liar'
ABC
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Mitch Albom book excerpt: New novel 'The Little Liar' set in middle of Holocaust
Detroit Free Press
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The gun debate is over. Should we debate the warning signs instead?
Detroit Free Press
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Mitch Albom talks new Holocaust novel 'The Little Liar'
Naples Daily News
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For Jews in this latest war, a fear of the past is haunting
Detroit Free Press
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Breaking news: Marriage, two-parent homes good for children! Film at 11!
Detroit Free Press
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Should the Senate really dress as badly as the rest of us?
Detroit Free Press
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Critizing the old isn't cute, it's an insulting — and growing — trend
Detroit Free Press
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Whether here or in Haiti, being terrorized by crime is no way to live
Detroit Free Press
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In tragedy like Michigan State shooting, it's not as simple as picking up the pieces
Detroit Free Press
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ChatGPT is smart, fast and easy — all the reasons you should be wary
Detroit Free Press
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Ghosts of past, present and future issue ominous warnings for Jews
Detroit Free Press
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Bestselling author Albom talks truth, lies and forgiveness at IWCC Arts Center
The Daily Nonpareil

Podcasts

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