Tuesdays with Morrie

Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson

by Mitch Albom

Broadway Books, New York   © 1997   192 pp.

This bestseller book is recommended for anyone open to the richness of consciously approaching the dying process while relishing the wonder and joy of living. Its focus is the true story of a rekindled relationship between a young man (the author) and his former college professor/mentor (Morrie Schwartz) as the latter endures the physical decline of a degenerative disease (ALS).  They meet weekly on Tuesdays just to spend time together, and over that year the beloved teacher's health noticeably declines until his death.

During these visits, Morrie imparts to his receptive former student and friend a boundless wisdom based on life experience including such topics as universal love, familial bonds, the importance of community, aging, up-close physical disability, and ultimately, death. Written in the first person of the author, it is through humor and compassion that they both find the means to cope with the humbling process this terminal illness demands.

The conversational flow of the book easily engages the reader, and one is fully able to appreciate Morrie’s love of life even as he is dying.  He seems to nail it when he states “the important questions have to do with love, responsibility, spirituality, and awareness.”

-- reviewed by Mona Bronson