Author Mitch Albom to address new students

Author and sportswriter Mitch Albom will share his “lessons for life” Tuesday (Sept. 1) as the first outside speaker to address new UW–Madison students at the annual Chancellor’s Convocation for freshmen.

Albom, whose 1997-98 best-seller “Tuesdays With Morrie” chronicled Albom’s life-changing friendship with his college mentor, is scheduled to speak at noon at the Kohl Center. The free event is intended for new students and seating will be reserved for them. The public also is welcome. No tickets are required.

Albom’s talk, the signature event of Wisconsin Welcome Week, also serves to help kick off UW–Madison’s sesquicentennial year.

A sports columnist with the Detroit Free Press since 1985, Albom, 39, has been voted the top sports columnist in the nation by his peers for 11 of the last 12 years. He is also an accomplished feature writer, and his weekly non-sports column for the Free Press covers subjects concerning America and its values.

“Tuesdays With Morrie” tells the story of Albom’s inspiring relationship with Morrie Schwartz, his former sociology professor at Brandeis University. Some 16 years out of college, Albom rekindled his friendship with Schwartz, who was dying of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. His weekly visits to Schwartz’s bedside form the basis for the book, which explores the simple power of relationships and a quest for deeper meaning in life.

The book became a No. 1 New York Times non-fiction best-seller and remains at No. 1 this week after 44 weeks on the list. Albom also co-wrote the biography of University of Michigan Athletic Director Bo Schembechler and a book about Michigan’s “Fab Five,” one of the most celebrated recruiting classes in college basketball history.

Albom is a multi-media talent whose career spans television, radio, print, song-writing and even night-club singing. He heads a weekly panel on ESPN-TV’s “Prime Monday” and is a regular on ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters” hosted by Dick Schapp. He is an accomplished singer, songwriter and pianist who once played as a warm-up act for comedian Gabe Kaplan of “Welcome Back Kotter” fame.

The talk is sponsored by the Office of the Chancellor and the Dean of Students Office. His appearance is being made possible by a generous gift from the UW Credit Union.