Portfolios
Memento Morrie
Images of Love and Loss
44 duotone photographs
7 aphorisms
4 essays
Rob Schwartz
entrepreneur, writer, music & film producer and son of Morrie Schwartz
'The Wisdom of Morrie,' published 2023 by Blackstone and edited by Rob Schwartz is on shelves now.
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Dr Stanley Appel
internationally renowned researcher, neurologist and expert on ALS.
Dr Appel is creator and director of the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute's MDA/ALSA ALS Research and Clinical Center in Houston.
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Anita Hannig, PhD
author of The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America, a finalist for the Oregon Book Awards.
A leading voice on death literacy and former Brandeis University Associate Professor, Anita Hannig will publish My Death Diary: A Guided Journal for Mortals in 2024.
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Richard Harris
award-winning television, radio, print, digital and film journalist
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Consultant to the nonprofit iCivics, former producer of " NPR's "All Things Considered" and former senior producer of "ABC News Nightline with Ted Koppel.”
Exhibition at Brandeis (Sept. 1995)
Exhibition at Marblehead Arts Association (Sept. 2024)
Facing my own fears of death. That's what I realize I was doing when my Brandeis University professor introduced my class to Morrie Schwartz and asked us to meditate on Morrie's now famous aphorisms. All these years later, they resonate deeply as my life has evolved from overseas to home again. Morrie was learning to live fully while he was losing vital functions due to ALS. Giving is living, he patiently explained to the many friends who regularly visited.
We collaborated on an exhibition that paired Morrie's aphorisms with my photographs documenting themes of community, family, friends, caregiving, self-care, spirituality, death and beyond. As part of my agreement with Morrie, our exhibition, 'Living While Dying' was shown before he died.
“Death ends a life, not a relationship,” Morrie said. He enjoyed the idea of people coming to visit his grave on a peaceful hill overlooking a pond - “You talk and I’ll listen.” Morrie showed me another way to face death and, in the process, live my life well.
selected works
from
Memento Morrie
book, exhibitions & events
Morrie's friends and colleagues at Brandeis University arranged a 'Living Memorial" to celebrate Morrie's life while he was living.
Morrie loved this image - its the first one I made of him- and displayed it prominently.
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BUILDING A CARING COMMUNITY
Shula (Shulamit) Reinharz, Brandeis University, Jacob Potofsky Professor of Sociology Emerita with Morrie at his "Living Memorial."
FRIENDS
Sociology professors Charlie Derber and Morrie Schwartz have been friends for over 25 years. Morrie believed in seeking out people who touch your heart and investing time and effort in those friendships as frequently as possible.
In the late 70's and early 80's, Jeannie Lindheim and Morrie were good friends from being in the same groups. Then, 15 years passed. When Jeannie read the Boston Globe article "A Professor's Last Lesson: His Own Death" about her friend, she called him immediately. Delighted to hear from her, Morrie asked if she could come over and she did that very day- a Thursday. It was as if almost no time had passed; they laughed and cried (mostly laughed) almost every Thursday for the next six months.
CAREGIVING
Don't stay preoccupied with your body or your illness. Recognize that your body is not your total self, only a part of it.
aphorism by Morrie Schwartz
SELF-CARE
'Be loving, compassionate, and gentle toward yourself. Befriend yourself. Do not put yourself down or criticize yourself continuously.
aphorism by Morrie Schwartz
FAMILY
Morrie's son Rob gives his father one of the many kisses as they spend time together during the last months of Morrie's illness.
SPIRITUALITY
Narayan, Morrie's meditation teacher suggested that the leap between life and death may not be a wide chasm, but instead - maybe there is a little bridge.
Morrie passed peacefully on November 4, 1995. His family had stepped out of the room and he died at home, as he wanted.
It was a cold, grey day. It felt appropriate for the feelings of all the lives Morrie touched. However, we knew that the sun will shine again and life goes on and we are all a little wiser for knowing this professor who lived with love and died with dignity.
IN DEATH AND BEYOND
In May 1996, Rob visits Morrie's gravesite after the stone is installed.
According to Jewish tradition, while flowers may be a good metaphor for the brevity of life, stones seem better suited to the permanence of memory.
Morrie's widow Charlotte lived a long and productive life, dying peacefully at the age of 98. Morrie and Charlotte are together again.
I visited Morrie and Charlotte in July 2022 after the gravestone was installed. Morrie would say that when coming to visit him - "you talk and I'll listen."
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I talked about how our six month collaborative photography project affected me. I try to be kind to myself and others as we all grapple with matters of love & loss.
