John Grogan facts for kids

John Joseph Grogan (born March 20, 1957) is an American journalist and non-fiction writer. He is best known for his book Marley & Me (2005). This book became a huge bestseller and is all about his family's dog, Marley.

Early Life and Education

John Grogan was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March 20, 1957. He was the youngest of four children in a Catholic family with Irish roots. His father, Richard, was an engineer and a Navy veteran. His mother, Ruth Marie, stayed home to care for the family.

Moving to Orchard Lake Village

Soon after John was born, his family moved to Harbor Hills. This neighborhood is in Orchard Lake Village, Michigan. Many of the stories in his book The Longest Trip Home take place there. John says his mother was a great storyteller, and her love for stories influenced him a lot.

School Days and Early Writing

By eighth grade, around 1970-1971, John was already writing funny stories. He wrote about the nuns at Our Lady of Refuge school. He later moved to a public high school, West Bloomfield High School. He graduated in 1975. During high school, he wrote for the school newspaper. He even started his own unofficial newspaper.

College Years

John went to Central Michigan University. He studied both Journalism and English. While there, he wrote for the school newspaper, CM-Life.

John Grogan's Career

After college, John Grogan started his career as a reporter. His first internship was at a local newspaper called The Spinal Column.

Starting as a Reporter

In 1979, after graduating from Central Michigan University, he became a police reporter. He worked for the Herald-Palladium in St. Joseph, Michigan. Later, in 1985, he received a special scholarship. This allowed him to study Public Affairs Reporting at Ohio State University. He earned a master's degree in Journalism in 1986.

Working at Major Newspapers

John was also a fellow at the Poynter Institute of Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida. After that, he joined the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He started as a bureau reporter and later became a columnist. In 1999, he became the managing editor for Organic Gardening magazine. He then moved to Pennsylvania. In 2002, he became a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. This newspaper later published a collection of his best articles in 2007. It was called Bad Dogs Have More Fun.

Awards and Full-Time Writing

John Grogan's journalism career lasted over 20 years. He won several awards, including the National Press Club's Consumer Journalism Award. In 2007, he started working full-time on his next book. This book was a memoir called The Longest Trip Home. It was released on October 21, 2008.

The Longest Trip Home

The Longest Trip Home is a story about John Grogan growing up. It focuses on his relationship with his parents and family. The book explores the strong love within a family. John's website says it's for anyone who has tried to find their own path. It's also for parents who try to understand their children's choices.

Teaching Journalism

In the spring of 2012, John Grogan began teaching. He became a professor at Lehigh University. He teaches a writing class called "Memoir and Me: First-Person Non-Fiction Narratives."

Marley & Me

In 2003, John Grogan's dog, Marley, passed away at 13 years old. John wrote a newspaper column in The Philadelphia Inquirer to honor him. He received over 800 messages from readers. This amazing response made John decide to write a book. He realized he had a "bigger story to tell" and felt he "owed it to Marley" to share it.

The Story of Marley

John Grogan started writing Marley & Me in 2004. The book is told from his own point of view. Marley was a yellow Labrador retriever. He was very energetic, sometimes wild, and often caused trouble. But he was also very loyal and loving, and always forgiven.

Book Success and Film Adaptation

Marley & Me was released in 2005. It became a huge international bestseller. Over five million copies were sold in more than thirty languages. The book stayed on the bestseller list for 76 weeks. For 23 of those weeks, it was the number one book. In 2006, John won Quill Awards for the audiobook and memoir versions of Marley & Me. The book was later made into a movie. The film was released on December 25, 2008. Owen Wilson played John Grogan in the movie.

Spin-off Books for Kids

The success of Marley & Me led to several children's books. These include Bad Dog, Marley, A Very Marley Christmas, and Marley Goes to School.

Personal Life

John Grogan met his wife, Jenny Vogt, when they both worked at the Herald-Palladium newspaper. They were both reporters there. They got married on September 2, 1989, at Our Lady of Refuge Church in Orchard Lake Village, Michigan.

Music and Hobbies

While working at the Sun-Sentinel, John played bass guitar. He was in a rock band called The DropHeds. The band had members from different newspapers.

Life in Pennsylvania

John Grogan lives in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania. This is a rural area in eastern Pennsylvania. He lives in an old farm home from 1790 with his wife. They have two Labrador retrievers named Louie and Wallace. After Marley passed away, they adopted another dog named Gracie. Gracie died in early 2012 from a health issue. They later adopted Woodson, who was one of the dogs that played Marley in the movie. Woodson passed away in 2020. John Grogan continues to write full-time.