Mitch Albom
On May 23, 1958, I was born in Passaic, New Jersey. And now, I am a 55 year old American best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, dramatist, radio, television broadcaster and also a musician. I am Mitchell David Albom, which is also known as Mitch Albom. I lived in Buffalo when I was small but then I settled down in Oaklyn, New Jersey, which is close to Philadelphia. I grew up in a small, middle-class neighbourhood from which most people never left the neighbourhood. I am glad that I have such supportive parents which they used to say “Don’t expect your life to finish here. There’s a big world out there. Go out and see it.” So I attended high school in Southern New Jersey and then I moved to Waltham, Massachusetts to continue my studies in Brandeis University for bachelors in sociology. I spent a few years working in night clubs to pursuit my dream of becoming a musician. I’ve joined various bands in high school and college. I also got enrolled in Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where I studied Jazz Piano from Charlie Banacos. Surprisingly, while I was working in music industry in New York, I developed interest in journalism. I started writing for Queens Tribune, a weekly newspaper to pursuit my new interest. This experience helped me earn an entry in Columbia University for master’s degree in journalism. At that time, I worked with a sports magazine as a part timer in addition to night time piano playing to earn my tuition fees. This eventually kindled my interest in sports writing and I carried on after graduation by freelancing for sports publications. I had my first break though in 1983, when I was hired as feature writer by The Fort Lauderdale News Sun Sentinel, and later I got promoted to columnist. I’ve won the Associated Press Sports Editors award in 1985 for best Sports News Story, and soon I was hired as lead sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press to replace Mike Downey, a popular columnist who had taken a job with the Los