Career

He had been a reporter, bureau chief, and columnist for newspapers in Michigan and Florida before becoming the editor in chief of Rodale's Organic Gardening magazine.

He was a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Inquirer published a volume of his best articles in 2007 called, Bad Dogs Have More Fun. His next memoir, The Longest Trip Home, was released on Tuesday, October 21, 2008.

Marley & Me

Marley and Me is an autobiographical novel written by American Journalist John Grogan, about his family’s life when they lived with their dog Marley.

Told in first-person narrative John shares stories of antics and the relationships and lessons from this period. Grogan's Majestic Marley of Churchill (Marley), a yellow Labrador Retriever, is described as a high-strung, boisterous, and somewhat uncontrolled dog. He is strong, powerful and often destructive of their property yet he is always forgiven due to his loyal and loving nature.

The book, published in 2005, hit the USA Today and the NY Times bestseller lists and has later been adapted into a film that was released December 25, 2008, starring Owen Wilson (who played Grogan in the film) and Jennifer Aniston. Grogan is a graduate of Central Michigan University's Department of Journalism and wrote for the school newspaper, CM-Life.

Grogan's dog Marley appeared briefly in the movie The Last Home Run.

Personal life

Grogan was born in an Irish Catholic Home in Keego Harbor, Michigan on March 20, 1957. He was the youngest of four, his siblings being Marijo, Michael, and Tim. His father was an engineer for General Motors, while his mother was a stay-at-home mom.

He also attended Central Michigan University where he double majored in Journalism and English. He attended The Ohio State University as part of the highly selective Kiplinger Fellows program, where he earned a Master's degree in Journalism. He later was accepted as a fellow at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, another prestigious program. He lives with his wife, Jenny, and their three children, Patrick (b. 1992), Conor, and Colleen in rural eastern Pennsylvania.

He met his wife, Jenny, while working as a police reporter for the small Herald-Palladium in the Michigan harbor town of St. Joseph. He has cited Bill Bryson, Alice Sebold, and Jim Harrison among others as his favorite authors.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]