Rob Schwartz on Life's Greatest Lesson

Over 20 million copies of one of the most famous memoirs of all-time, “Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson” written by Mitch Albom, have been sold since its 1997 publication, and to this day it remains on many a college’s required reading list.

After not seeing his former professor, Morrie Schwartz, for 16 years after his graduation from Brandeis, Mitch met with Morrie on 14 Tuesdays in 1995 as part of his professor’s final class called, “The Meaning of Life.” Morrie was aware that Mitch’s book was being written, but did not live to see its tremendous success as a book and as the basis for an Emmy-Award Winning film starring Jack Lemmon as Morrie, and Hank Azaria as Mitch.

Twenty-eight years after Morrie Schwartz passed away, his son Rob Schwartz, has edited his father’s last work, and posthumously published what has become a bestselling new book, “The Wisdom of Morrie: Living and Aging Creatively and Joyfully.”

Rob is a journalist and entrepreneur, having founded a number of companies, both in Japan and the US, and held executive positions in others. He’s produced numerous film and music projects with international teams. His areas of expertise include the entertainment industries in Asia, the US, and Europe. His projects often have a special emphasis on music, film, online business development, and developing musical artists’ careers, as well as working for Billboard in Asia.

He has appeared on Good Morning America, Nightline, PBS NewsHour, NBC10 Boston, and in WebMD, Psychology Today, Reader’s Digest, and People magazine. Rob is currently one of the producers of Onetopia, a benefit music festival.

For those that may not know, or may need a reminder, Rob’s father was the beloved subject of the classic, "Tuesdays with Morrie," and he was a professor of Sociology and Social Psychology for over 30 years at Brandeis, before retiring at age 70 and being diagnosed with ALS. Morrie wrote on a variety of topics but his groundbreaking 1954 book (with psychiatrist Alfred Stanton), “The Mental Hospital”, made him a superstar in psychology and helped him earn a full-time professorship as his first university position. He was also dedicated to social justice and valuing human beings.

I asked Rob what it was like growing-up in the in the Schwartz household along with his work and background, and what took him to Asia and his work there as a founder, journalist, and in production.

Rob shared how his mother helped his father with his books The Mental Hospital in 1954 and The Nurse and the Mental Patient in 1956, and co-authoring the book Social Approaches To Mental Patient Care in 1964 with Morrie as well. It seems fitting to keep the family-writing collaborative going with this project.

We got into the book, and here is what others have said about it:

Harvard Professor Arthur C. Brooks and New York Times bestselling author of Build the Life You Want with co-author Oprah Winfrey, said, “This book will change forever how you see the gift of aging.”

Publisher’s Weekly wrote, “In this sage posthumous treatise, Schwartz…explores the art of aging well…Not only those over-the-hill will want to take a look.”

Daniel Pink, New York Times bestselling author of “The Power of Regret” called the book “(A) remarkable work… (that) offers practical tips and inspiring guidance for living a healthy and vibrant life, no matter your age.”

Deepak Chopra describes “The Wisdom of Morrie” as “Beautiful…those lucky enough to read this book will be inspired.”

And Ted Koppel said “Morrie would have loved this: after the phenomenal success of Tuesdays with Morrie… He gets to engage and inspire all over again… Didn’t you ever wonder what else Morrie had to say? Well, here it is.”

All well-deserved; Rob not only brought it to publication, but wrote the Foreword, Afterword and did the book design. Rob clarified the contact and timing of all this. He went on to bring precise aspects of the book to light as well. In a way, Rob considers this book as a bookend/companion to "Tuesdays With Morrie."

The book’s been described as a profound, poetic, and poignant masterpiece of living and aging joyfully and creatively, but he first starts off examining ageism and explaining how poisonous it is and how wrong it is. In his reflections he confronts the false notion that people are somehow made less by the aging process, and his coining the term “age casting,” as an aspect of ageism and diminishing a person’s value solely based on their age.

The book asks readers many thought-provoking questions, including:

Who am I really?

What have I done?

What is important and meaningful to me?

What difference does it make that I have lived?

What does it mean to be truly human, and where am I on that scale?

Rob explained the subtitle, and the importance “Living and Aging Creatively and Joyfully.” Furthermore, Morrie has his top five secrets for living a long and happy life, and Rob shared those and walks us through them.

1. Laughter,

2. Meditation,

3. Spiritual Connections,

4. Finding New Interests, and

5. Strengthening Human Relationships.

We talked about his father’s perspectives on the difference between having an attitude of “Hope” versus “Fear” as we age, and the chapters that focus on the key components of being happy in later life. In the book, he wrote that there is the point of “then, now, and in the future” stating that all of us live in three time tenses. Rob discussed what that means in the context of aging.

I mentioned that I had Michael Clinton on the show discussing his book ROAR and reimagining the latter part of one’s life, and of course Arthur Brooks’ writing. There seems to be a new perspective on aging, and it seems Morrie was ahead of the curve in his thinking and with this book.

I liked the section on seeking out and developing a stimulating environment for yourself with people and projects to keep you engaged, which also seems resonant with other’s perspectives these days, and is a great fit for a podcast called Living a Life in Full.

To quote: “Work toward a higher cause or purpose that is not for your immediate benefit, that is bigger than you, and that contributes to the welfare of others. We know of many famous people who aged well: Freud, Picasso, Berenson, Michelangelo, Leonardo, O’Keefe, Grandma Moses, Arthur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, John Dewey, Bertrand Russell, Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther, and Einstein just to name a few. They aged well primarily because they were passionately committed to their art, music, philosophy, and projects, and concede to themselves as pursuing a higher purpose.” And the line: “Use your freedom and retirement, freedom is there for us to use as we see fit.” I wholeheartedly agree with that, and Rob thinks this may be an antidote to ageism.

Harry Stack Sullivan is quoted as saying “everyone is much more simply human than unique,” and thereby being encouraged to become more simply human, and Rob’s dad is known for saying “Stay Human.” I asked him to explain what he meant by that. I also asked what he thought his dad would say about this book being published now. Tune in to hear his answer.

As a book design nerd, I noted that the hardcover edition has a beautiful interior design and I like how each chapter opener is printed in ink colored with a subtle ombré effect. Rob also had script font to distinguish his notes along with the use of colored callout boxes and it was a treat to see the family photos. Rob’s made the book a beautiful object as well.

We wrapped-up our conversation with him sharing a bit about his efforts in producing a global benefit festival dedicated to mental health and has a playlist on Spotify. He’s also working on the development of Holocaust survivors’ story as a documentary as well.

Rob’s perspectives, work and life serve as an inspiration to us all to live our lives in full.

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