In a previous interview with Detroit Free Press, Tuesdays with Morrie author Mitch said Morrie 'was more than a former teacher' to him. Jack passed away on October 3 at age 83 after a battle with cancer - around the same time that Tuesdays with Morrie celebrated its 25-year anniversary. Morrie's son, Rob (seen earlier this year), recently reflected on the impact Jack had on his father in his own piece for Boston Globe, calling the journalist's death 'a huge loss and a moment of reflection for us all' But the enormity of the impact he had on my family and me is practically overwhelming,' he wrote. He called Jack's death 'a huge loss for the New England community and a moment of reflection for us all.' Now, the man that first sparked the world's fascination with Morrie by writing the original Boston Globe article about him, Jack, has passed away - and Morrie's son, Rob, recently reflected on the impact Jack had on his father in his own piece for Boston Globe. Mitch soon began attending Morrie's weekly 'living funerals,' and he wrote about them in his New York Times best-selling memoir, Tuesdays with Morrie, which went on to become a popular TV movie which aired on ABC in 1999. Morrie was then invited on the show Nightline to discuss his views on death - and when one of his former students, Mitch Albom, came across the TV segment, he decided to reach out to his old teacher.

The discussions soon caught the attention of Boston Globe journalist Jack Thomas (pictured in March), who wrote a profile on Morrie in the newspaper in March 1995 Mitch began attending Morrie's weekly discussions, and wrote a memoir about it, which was then turned into a movie Morrie passed away in November 1995.Morrie was then invited on the show Nightline - and when one of his former students, Mitch Albom, came across the TV segment, he reached out to Morrie.The meetings soon caught the attention of Boston Globe journalist Jack Thomas, who wrote a profile on Morrie in the newspaper in March 1995.He began holding weekly gatherings at his house, which he referred to as 'living funerals,' in which he discussed learning to live while starring death in the face.Instead, the teacher, from Newton, Massachusetts, used his impending demise as a chance to help others come to terms with their own endings.

When Morrie Schwartz, a former professor at Brandeis University, learned that he was dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease in 1995, he did not lay down and die.

The fascinating TRUE story behind Tuesday's with Morrie: How man with ALS who held weekly 'living funerals' for himself until his death inspired the best-selling book and movie - as tome marks 25 YEARS since its release

Morrie memoir