Humbled Albom back at Detroit Free Press

DETROIT – Mitch Albom’s column returned to the Detroit Free Press on Sunday and the best-selling author wrote about lessons learned since writing a column that contained errors and purported to describe events at a game even though it was written before the game took place.

Albom’s work had not appeared in the paper since an April 7 column in which he apologized to readers. Sunday he offered a fresh apology and called the last three weeks “the darkest, yet most enlightening of my professional life.”

“If I ever wanted to learn what it was like to be an athlete or coach with people screaming for your head, I’ve learned. It’s no fun. I hope always to remember that feeling before rushing after someone in print,” Albom wrote.

The newspaper announced April 23 that Albom and four other newspaper employees had been disciplined.

Albom reported that former Michigan State players Mateen Cleaves and Jason Richardson attended the April 2 Michigan State-North Carolina NCAA basketball game. He reported that the players “sat in the stands, in their MSU clothing, and rooted on their alma mater.” In fact, neither player was at the game. Albom said he wrote the column based on what the players had told him they planned to do.