Albom coming to Naperville to discuss latest novel

One of the country’s best-loved novelists is headed to Naperville.

New York Times best-selling author Mitch Albom visits at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, to discuss his new title, “The First Phone Call from Heaven.” A book-signing opportunity follows Albom’s talk at North Central College’s Wentz Concert Hall, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville.

Albom has carved out a place among contemporary authors with such best-sellers as “Tuesdays with Morrie,” “For One More Day” and “The Five People You Meet in Heaven.” The humanism and storytelling that characterize Albom’s work is on full display in his much-anticipated new novel.

“The First Phone Call from Heaven” tells the story of a small Midwestern town whose residents begin to get phone calls from the departed and is equal parts mystery, love story and allegory about the power of belief.

What is false about hope? That’s the elemental question that comes into play when eight residents of Coldwater, Mich., believe they have been contacted by the dead. Others hope it soon will be their turn to communicate with those who have passed, to hear their voices one more time, to get a second chance at fixing what has been left unsaid or undone. But Sully Harding, a single father and disgraced navy pilot who is grieving the loss of his wife, is determined to prove the calls are a hoax. What he will discover is not the end of the story.

Woven throughout the novel is the parallel story of Alexander Graham Bell and the invention of the telephone, which forever changed the way we connect with those we love.

Albom’s books collectively have sold more than 33 million copies worldwide, have been published in 42 languages, and have been made into Emmy Award-winning and critically acclaimed television movies.

An internationally renowned and best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, playwright and broadcaster, Albom is also a philanthropist who has founded six charities for the needy and disenfranchised, many in the metropolitan Detroit area. He also operates an orphanage in Port Au Prince, Haiti.

His many honors include being named National Hospice Organization’s Man of the Year, the Red Smith Award for lifetime achievement in sportswriting, and a recent induction into the Sportswriters Hall of Fame.

Tickets for Albom’s appearance are required and available with the purchase of “The First Phone Call from Heaven” at Anderson’s Bookshop, 123 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville. For information, call (630) 355-2665 or visit andersonsbookshop.com.