As my visits with Morrie go on, I begin to read about death, how different cultures view the final passage. There is a tribe in the North American Arctic, for example, who believe that all things on earth have a soul that exists in a miniature form of the body that hold it -so that a deer has a tiny deer inside it, and a man has a tiny man inside him. When the large being dies, that tiny form lives on. It can slide into something being born nearby, or it can go to a temporary resting place in the sky, in the belly of a great feminine spirit, where it waits until the moon can send it back to earth. Sometimes, they say, the moon is so busy with the new souls of the world that it disappears from the sky. That is why we have moonless nights. But in the end, the moon always returns, as do we all. That is what they believe.

Albom has said the book was inspired by his real life uncle Eddie Beitchman who like the character served during World War II in the Philippines and died when he was 83. He is also well known for his philanthropic work in Detroit Michigan where he founded four charities. Many of his columns have been collected into anthology books including Live Albom I (Detroit Free Press 1988) Live Albom II (Detroit Free Press 1990) Live Albom III (Detroit Free Press 1992) and Live Albom IV (Detroit Free Press 1995).

His books have sold over 30 million copies worldwide. Mitchell David "Mitch" Albom (born May 23 1958) is an American best-selling author journalist screenwriter dramatist radio and television broadcaster and musician. Having achieved national recognition for his sports writing in the earlier part of his career he is perhaps best known for the inspirational stories and themes that weave through his books plays and films.