Mitch Albom, a Michigan journalist, has earned national attention and awards for his sports columns distinguished by insight, humor, and empathy. Disdaining the questionable ethical conduct, drug problems, and over-inflated egos often found in the sports world, Albom highlights instances of athletic courage and determination while providing honest commentary on a team's performance. Collections of his columns have appeared every few years since 1988 and include The Live Albom: The Best of Mitch Albom and Live Albom IV. He has also co-authored a biography of legendary University of Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler, and written about another sport at the school in Fab Five: Basketball, Trash Talk, the American Dream, published in 1993. But Albom scored a surprise hit in 1997 that had little to do with athletics: Tuesdays with Morrie, his poignant chronicle of several insightful dialogues conducted with a former college professor during the onetime mentor's final months of a terminal illness, spent over two years on the New York Times bestseller lists.
