However, after three years, Grogan began to miss working for a newspaper and started working as a columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Grogan's next career change occurred when he became editor of Organic Gardening magazine, requiring him to move to rural eastern Pennsylvania. Marley was a rambunctious and lovable pup affectionately nicknamed 'the world's worst dog' and ended up providing Grogan with much material and fodder for his columns and future bestselling book.

Grogan was then promoted from bureau reporter to metropolitan columnist, a job he 'found suited better than imagined any job could.' He and Jenny married shortly after settling in Florida and adopted Marley, a Labrador retriever puppy. Petersburg, Florida.Īfter finishing his second fellowship, Grogan chose to remain in Florida, working as a journalist at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, and Jenny soon joined him there, taking a job writing features at The Palm Beach Post. Grogan then won a fellowship to attend Ohio State University's Kiplinger Mid-Career Program in Public Affairs in 1985, which he refers to as his 'ticket out of small town journalism.' After earning his master's degree from Ohio State University, Grogan won a second fellowship to attend the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, which is located in St. This was his first full-time writing job and is where he met his future wife, Jenny, who was a fellow reporter on staff. Upon graduation, Grogan began working as a police reporter for the Herald-Palladium, a newspaper located in the small town St. He also worked for the campus newspaper and graduated in 1979. During his high school career, Grogan wrote for the school newspaper and created an underground tabloid he was sent to the principal's office for his involvement in the latter journalistic endeavor.Īfter high school, Grogan attended Central Michigan University, where he majored in journalism and English. Grogan claims that he fell into writing 'by default because was so bad at everything else,' and he 'could have some fun with' writing, unlike other subjects like math and science. Grogan notes that his mother's passion and gift for storytelling 'wore off' on him. His father worked as an engineer for General Motors, and his mother worked as a housewife and mother.

Shortly after his birth, his family moved from the city to Orchard Lake, Michigan, where he grew up in the neighborhood called Harbor Hills, which is the setting for his second memoir, The Longest Trip Home. John Grogan was born on March 20, 1957, in Detroit, Michigan, and is the youngest of four children.

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