Tuesdays with Morrie

Complete Name

Professor ____________

University

03 January 2009

Tuesdays with Morrie is about a true story of a sociologist named Morrie Schwartz who is slowly dying of Lou Gherig 's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS ) and his relationship with his student , Mitch Albom . ALS is a neurological dis characterized by the slow wasting away , or atrophy , of the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord . The gradual atrophy and weakening of the nerve cells eventually causes the loss of muscular control in various parts of the body

. Therefore , a person afflicted with ALS will eventually be unable to perform normal actions such as chewing , speaking , walking , and even breathing

The story centers on the lessons about life that Mitch learns from his professor . Sixteen years after his graduation from Brandeis , Mitch is feeling frustrated with the life he has chosen as a musician . After his uncle dies of pancreatic cancer , Mitch abandons his failing career to become a well-paid journalist for a Detroit news . One night , Mitch is flipping the channels on his television and recognizes Morrie 's voice . Morrie is being featured on the television program "Nightline " in the first of three interviews with Ted Koppel . After seeing Morrie appear on television , Mitch contacts his professor and travels to visit him . Shortly after his reunion with Morrie and after learning that the article he has worked so hard to write will not even be published , as the union he belongs to is striking against the news he...