Morrie Schwartz

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Morrie Schwartz

Morris "Morrie" Schwartz (December 20, 1916 – November 4, 1995) was an American educator. He gained posthumous fame as the subject of the book Tuesdays With Morrie
Tuesdays With Morrie

Tuesdays with Morrie is a 1997 biographical novel by United States writer Mitch Albom. The story was later adaptedp by Thomas Rickman into a television movie , which aired on 5 December 1999 and starred Hank Azaria....
, published in 1997.

Childhood, education, and career
Born to Charles Schwartz, a Russian immigrant who had moved to escape the Russian Army, Schwartz grew up in the Jewish tenements in New York City. At the age of eight, he was informed that his mother had died.

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Childhood, education, and career

Born to Charles Schwartz, a Russian immigrant who had moved to escape the Russian Army, Schwartz grew up in the Jewish tenements in New York City. At the age of eight, he was informed that his mother had died. Not long after, his brother David was diagnosed with polio. His father died from a heart attack after being robbed. He died with his friends and family around him and died peacefully. He was a compassionate man that cared about others especially the ones he loved.

Schwartz earned his undergraduate from City College in New York, and his master's degree and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park, Chicago neighborhood of Chicago. Although an older university by the same name existed prior to its founding, the modern University of Chicago credits its founding to the oil magnate John D....
in 1946 and 1951. He wrote three books on sociology

Sociology

Sociology is a branch of the social sciences that uses systematic methods of Empiricism and critical theory to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social structure and activity, sometimes with the goal of applying such knowledge to the pursuit of social welfare....
in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a renowned professor of sociology at Brandeis University

Brandeis University

Brandeis University is a Private university research university with a liberal arts focus, located in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, nine miles west of Boston, Massachusetts....
, where he was well respected and admired by his colleagues and students. Among his students was future sportswriter, television host and author Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom

Mitchell David Albom is an American best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, playwright, radio and television broadcaster and musician. His books have sold over 26 million copies worldwide....
. Schwartz continued to teach at Brandeis into his 70s, when amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a progressive, usually fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement....
, or ALS, (also known as Lou Gehrig

Lou Gehrig

Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , born Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig, was an United States Major League Baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s, chiefly remembered for his prowess as a hitter and the longevity of his consecutive games played record, and the pathos of his tearful farewell from baseball at age 36, when he was stricken with a fatal...
's disease) made it difficult for him to continue.

Fame

After seeing Schwartz on ABC's Nightline discussing his illness with Ted Koppel

Ted Koppel

Edward James "Ted" Koppel is an United States broadcast Journalism, best known as the News presenter for Nightline from the program's inception in 1980 until Koppel left in late 2005....
, Mitch Albom found his teacher 16 years after their last meeting when Mitch graduated from Brandeis

Brandeis

Brandeis may refer to:* J. L. Brandeis and Sons Store, an Omaha, Nebraska-based department store chain* Brandeis Brokers, a broker on the London Metal Exchange...
. The two collaborated on Tuesdays with Morrie during Schwartz's final days in 1995. The book was published in 1997 and has spent a good many years on the USA Today
USA Today

'USA TODAY' is a national United States daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Allen Neuharth. The paper has the widest newspaper circulation of any newspaper in the United States , and among English-language broadsheets, it comes second worldwide, behind only the 2.6 million daily paid copies of The Times of...
best-seller list. It was made into a television movie in 1999, with Jack Lemmon

Jack Lemmon

'John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III' was an United States actor known principally for his comedic roles. He starred in over 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Days of Wine and Roses , Irma La Douce, The Odd Couple , The Out-of-Towners , Glengarry Glen Ross , The China Syndrome and JFK ....
playing the role of Schwartz and Hank Azaria

Hank Azaria

Hank Albert Azaria is an United States film and television actor, Film director, comedian and voice artist. He is noted for his long-running career as one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons....
as Mitch Albom. Coincidentally, it was Lemmon's last credited role before his own death.

Ted Koppel

Ted Koppel

Edward James "Ted" Koppel is an United States broadcast Journalism, best known as the News presenter for Nightline from the program's inception in 1980 until Koppel left in late 2005....
's last episode as Nightline host, gave appreciations to Morrie Schwartz who died ten years before.

His personal epitaph was "A Teacher to the Last."..........................