JOHN YANG: Finally tonight, a sports writer# turned author turned benefactor who puts love## and hope at the center of nearly everything# he does in our weekend spotlight, Mitch Albom.

MITCH ALBOM, Author, "Twice": This is# the big that Hudson New Hudson building.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): Spending the day with## Mitch Albom in Detroit is# not a leisurely experience.

MITCH ALBOM: We try to keep everything happy.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): At# Detroit Water Ice Factory,## the nonprofit dessert store he started# to help fund his humanitarian work,## he whips up a Motown twist with his namesake# Mr.

Mitch's chocolate peanut butter.

Then a stop at say, Detroit Play,# a one-time abandoned city rec## center that Albom transformed into a# multimillion dollar learning center## for hundreds of school students# where academics come before play.

MITCH ALBOM: We're not going to build something# that's good enough for a poor neighborhood in## Detroit.

We're going to build something that's# good enough for the best neighborhood in all of## Michigan.

If you deliver high expectations, you'll# get high performances.

If you come in with low## expectations, oh, this is good enough.

That's# exactly the performances you're going to get.

And all I did was kind of, you know,# kind of get it going, you know,## but they take the ball and run with it and# it's, you can see it's a lot of joy there.

JOHN YANG (voice-over):## While there, the one-time professional musician## shows us his talents on the# piano.

He's never had a lesson.

MITCH ALBOM: Got to know your Flintstones.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): In between stops,# he takes a call from the orphanage he's## run in Haiti since after the# devastating 2010 earthquake.

MITCH ALBOM: This is actually# my second time around in life.

JOHN YANG: All of that is before or# two hours behind a microphone for his## long running daily afternoon# radio show on Detroit station## WJR.

And after the three hours every# morning that he devotes to writing.

Albom's books have sold 42 million copies.

His# latest, a novel entitled "Twice," was published## this week.

It's about a boy who can go into the# past in order to have a second chance at things,## except when it comes to love.

So your protagonist,# Alfie Logan from Philadelphia, you're a Philly## boy.

You started out as a musician, turned# to writing.

Are there other similarities?

MITCH ALBOM: Yes.

Most of Alfie's# screw ups with girls were based on## personal experience.

And Alfie has the# power to go back in time, redo things.

MITCH ALBOM: So there's a scene in# the book where he goes up to this## cute blonde girl who he kind of has a crush# on, and he starts talking with his hands and## hits a glass of milk and knocks it into# her lap.

And she looks up with that, oh,## my God.

And he just says, look at that, and walks# away.

And that is exactly what happened to me.

If you want to write about a teenager with# embarrassing moments in his romantic life and## you already have them in your own life, why not# use them?

Why make up something else if they work?

JOHN YANG: Tell us how he discovers he's got this.

MITCH ALBOM: Yeah, they're living in Africa.

And# he is supposed to sit with his mother, who's sick,## and she's in one of those mosquito netting beds.# And he goes and sees that she's sleeping and his## father's out, and he says, well, she's sleeping.# I'll just go out and play.

And he realizes his## mother died while he was out.

And he's so upset# by this that when he wakes up the next morning,## it's the day before, and his father says, go sit# with your mother.

And he goes, what do you mean,## go sit with your mother?

And he walks in and# she's there again, and it's replaying all over.

But it was a very poignant scene for me because# my mother had a stroke and then a series of## strokes that robbed her of the ability to speak# for the last several years of her life.

And## so I never had that last conversation with her# because I didn't know the stroke was coming.

And then I had gone out to see her and# I flew back home.

And when I landed,## I got a phone call that she had died while# I was in the air.

And there's a line in the## book that says Alfie, who was running# around with a cape, a Superman cape on,## just jumping up and down.

And he says, my mother# died while I was trying to fly.

And I don't think## most people will know him, maybe I'm telling# you, but my mother died while I was flying.

And so, yeah, that scene kind of choked me up a# little bit.

Set the stage for the book, though.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): It was as a Detroit# Free Press sports columnist in the 1980s that## Albom first gained prominence.# His 1997 worldwide bestseller,## "Tuesdays with Morrie," brought broader# recognition.

An account of his weekly visits## with a beloved former professor who was dying.# It's one of the bestselling memoirs of all time.

MITCH ALBOM: I just start with what I want# to write about and then I create a story## around it.

So, for example, the five people you# meet in heaven, people have always thought, oh,## you want to write about heaven after# Morrie.

And that wasn't really true.## I wanted to write a story about# people who think they don't matter.

So I kind of picked themes before I start.# And theme for this one was the "Grass is## Always Greener."

And I wanted to write a book# that showed that even if you had the ability,## the magical ability to go back in time and change# it, you might find a whole new set of problems,## and you might find that you miss what you# learned from what you thought was a mistake.

JOHN YANG (voice-over):# While not all love stories,## many of Albom's books have lessons# about love, hope, and optimism.

JOHN YANG: So many of my friends I# told I was coming to do this said,## what they love about your books is the sense of# hope and optimism that runs through all of them.

MITCH ALBOM: Yeah.

JOHN YANG: In Americ.. so much -- so many troubles, is it# hard to keep that hope and optimism?

MITCH ALBOM: No, I actually find it's more# necessary and it's somewhat easier because## it's almost a counter to what's going on.

I# think that everybody wants hope and everybody## wants inspiration.

When people take out their# wallets, they pull out a picture of their## grandson or their child or whatever.

They don't# pull out a picture of their woe or their misery## or how awful life is.

Here, let me show you how# awful, how dark life is.

They aspire to hope.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): Since 2010, Albom has# been giving hope to hundreds of impoverished## orphans in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

He and# an army of volunteers rebuilt an orphanage## heavily damaged by the earthquake.# He spends a week there every month.

MITCH ALBOM: I did not know what I was# doing.

I'll admit that at the beginning,## I didn't have children of my own.

I# didn't even know diaper changing or## a lot of that stuff.

But I learned it.# And the kids are the absolute joys of## our lives and the purpose for myself and my# wife.

I'm sure that were put on this earth.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): Albom and his wife# of 30 years, Jeanine, became parents to two## children from Haiti.

Just one instance when# he says he's been given a second chance.

MITCH ALBOM: So there's more to this than just# a love story in a novel.

I have come to realize## that my life has been the embodiment of second# chances.

If you look at it from 30,000 feet,## you know, I was a musician, and# I thought, that's all I want to## do.

And I failed at it.

And I kind of took up# writing because there was nothing else to do.

But look at what writing has given me.

We don't# have children.

We get married late.

Doesn't happen## for us.

We figure out we're not going to -- we're# going to be a couple that doesn't have children.## And then this little.

Then an orphanage comes into# our lives.

And then this little girl named Chica## needs our help because she has a brain tumor, and# she becomes our daughter for two years.

And then## we lose her.

And we figure, oh, my goodness, you# know, that was our chance.

That was our child.

And then a few years ago, a little girl is# brought to us who weighs six pounds at six## months and has had nothing to eat but# sugar water.

And I hold her in my hand,## and she fits in one hand and her eyes are closed# and she can't speak and she can barely move.

We## don't think.

We just say, well, we have# to save her life.

She's our little girl.## And we have the second chance with another# beautiful little child full of life.

What did I do to deserve all these second# chances?

Who's watching over me that's saying,## you're on this way, but we're going to take you# this way.

So this is kind of a celebration of## what life can be like if you understand# what went wrong with the first time## and you try to make it right the second# time.

And I am a walking example of that.