[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 17, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S1666]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO MITCH ALBOM

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, 25 years ago, an article appeared in the 
Detroit Free Press sports section headlined, ``Give Me a Sporting 
Chance, And I'll Give It Right Back.'' It was the debut column from a 
young writer just arrived from Florida, and he admitted to some nerves 
about writing for his new audience. ``Starting tomorrow, I ask your 
attention, your reaction, your letters, your laughter and, once in a 
while, the benefit of the doubt,'' he wrote.
  I doubt many Free Press readers knew that morning that they held the 
beginning of a journalistic legend in their hands. And the writer 
himself surely didn't know what he was starting. But thousands of 
columns, millions of laughs, more than a few tears, 28 million books, 
and dozens of awards later, Free Press sports columnist Mitch Albom has 
become a Detroit institution right alongside the beloved athletes he 
has covered.
  Recently, it was announced that Mitch Albom will receive the ultimate 
award for a sportswriter, the Red Smith Award from the Associated Press 
Sports Editors. Smith, the legendary New York writer, once said his 
demanding craft was really simple: ``All you do is sit down at a 
typewriter and open a vein.'' And Mitch Albom is a worthy successor to 
that legacy of writing with heart and emotion as well as style and 
precision. In thrilling victories and painful losses, fans of 
Michigan's sports teams have seen 25 years of sports history through 
Albom's observant eyes. They have gotten to know the State's towering 
sports figures--be they heroic, tragic, or both--through Albom's 
perceptive character sketches.
  That careful attention to the human element of sports allowed Albom 
to branch out into other areas. His ``Tuesdays with Morrie'' is one of 
the 100 best-selling books of all time. He is one of Michigan's most 
listened-to radio hosts, and a regular on ESPN television. And as his 
success has grown, so have his contributions to his community. His 
charitable endeavors include efforts to help disadvantaged students 
study the arts, get health care to homeless families, and gather 
volunteers for worthy local service projects. Recently, he labored 
mightily and successfully to get aid to earthquake victims in Haiti.
  In winning the Red Smith Award, Albom joins a list of the most 
honored names in sports journalism. The award speaks forcefully to the 
respect of his professional peers. For Michigan readers, however, 
Albom's ongoing legacy is his remarkable writing on the games and 
athletes who are so much a part of our State's identity and DNA and his 
contributions to improving his community. I congratulate him on this 
latest honor, and I thank him for 25 years of great journalism. The 
readers of Michigan and the Nation look forward to many, many years 
more.

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