Unfinished Business

One Man's Extraordinary Year of Trying to Do the Right Things

By Lee Kravitz

Tuesdays with Morrie meets Eat, Pray, Love in this inspiring memoir of one man's midlife journey to attend to the loose ends in his life, and the unexpected rewards that follow.

After losing his job, Lee Kravitz, a workaholic in his midfifties, took stock of his life and realized just how disconnected he had become from the people who mattered most to him. He committed an entire year to reconnecting with them and making amends.

Kravitz takes readers on ten transformational journeys, among them repaying a thirty-year-old debt, making a long-overdue condolence call, finding an abandoned relative, and fulfilling a forgotten promise. Along the way, we meet a cast of wonderful characters and travel the globe—to a refugee camp in Kenya, a monastery in California, the desert of southern Iran, a Little League game in upstate New York, and a bar in Kravitz's native Cleveland. In each instance, the act of reaching out opens new paths for both personal and spiritual growth.

All of us have unfinished business—the things we should have done but just let slip. Kravitz's story reveals that the things we've avoided are exactly those that have the power to transform, enrich, enlarge, and even complete us. The lesson of the book is one applicable to us all: Be mindful of what is most important, and act on it. The rewards will be immediate and lasting.

Advance Praise for Unfinished Business:

"Lee Kravitz's illuminating and uplifting midlife memoir, Unfinished Business, is the perfect antidote to those middle-of-the-night sweats, when we toss and turn and torture ourselves with endless shoulda-coulda-wouldas. Achingly candid, this beautifully written and touchingly personal chronicle traces the author's year-long journey of searching for the pieces he left behind, and how it led him to finding his better self. Kravitz has written a triumphant love letter to the human condition."—Marlo Thomas, author of The Right Words at the Right Time

"Everyone complains about not having enough time – but what happens when we get it? Lee Kravitz used losing his job as a springboard to the human things he should have done. In so doing, he turned bad into bountiful. A great lesson for us all."—Mitch Albom, author of Have A Little Faith

“Unfinished Business is a rich, wise and powerful work that reminds us to be ever mindful of that which is truly important. By taking honest and courageous stock of his own unfinished business, Lee Kravitz calls on us all to live lives that honor our best selves. It is a timely and inspiring book.—Dave Isay, Founder of StoryCorps

"Unfinished Business is not just the story of how and why and when Lee Kravitz decided to tie up his loose ends, although all that is here. It's also about the extraordinary and unexpected events that unfold in his life and others' once he states the intention to pursue completion and becomes determines to see it through. This is an uplifting and truly life-affirming book."—Hope Edelman, author of The Possibility of Everything

"Lee Kravitz has written the perfect memoir for our time. He turns a personal setback into a sweeping affirmation of life, family, and resilience. Unfinished Business will surprise you with its nuance and amaze you with its grace and have you reaching out to someone you love."—Bruce Feiler, author of Walking the Bible

Media and Reviews for Unfinished Business:

Lee’s article on making amends featured on the AARP main page

Lee was interviewed on “Your Life Calling with Jane Pauley”

Listen to Lee’s great “Radio Times” (WHYY, Philly NPR) interview.

An excerpt on Grandparents.com

Here’s the schedule for his radio satellite tour…

7/22 8:15 am WMKT-AM/N. MI-regional 30 min live w/Greg Marshall, 50,000 watt AM

7/22 9:25 am KFRU-AM/Columbia MO 10 min live w/David Lile, top-rated AM

7/22 9:35 am WRVC-AM/Huntington WVA 25 min live w/Jean Dean, top-rated AM

7/22 11:30 am WBZ-AM/Boston MA 15 min taped w/Jordan Rich, 50,000 watt AM

7/22 12:00 pm KPTK-AM/Seattle WA 15 min taped w/Lee Callahan, 50,000 watt AM

7/22 5:25 pm CNN Radio/Dallas-Ft. Worth TX 15 min live w/Dan Cofall, regional AM

7/23 7:20 am WJR-AM/Detroit MI 10 min live w/Paul W Smith Show, 50,000 watt AM

7/23 8:00 am SiriusXM – Catholic Channel – national 15 min live w/Gus Lloyd, nationally syndicated

7/23 8:40 am WGVU-AM&FM/Grand Rapids MI 10 min live w/Shelley Irwin, NPR affiliated

7/23 9:50 am *WLW-AM/Cincinnati OH 10 min taped w/Jim Scott, 50,000 watt AM

7/25 7:30 am WIP-AM/ Philadelphia, PA 30 min live w/Peter Solomon, top-rated AM

7/26 10:20 am *CNN650-AM/Houston TX 10 min live w/Brent Clanton, regional AM

7/28 3:00 pm KMBH-FM/Brownsville TX 30 min taped w/John Cook, NPR affiliated

Lee's interview in Swing Vote. Swing Vote is a Denver-based weekly online subscription magazine that goes out to 50,000 area subscribers.

Lee interviewed on WritersCast.com

Sarah Halzack’s Washington Post review picked up by the Ventura County Star.

Primoreads.com blog review's good.

Listen to Lee Kravitz in a live 20 minute interview on KMOX-AM (St. Louis) “The John Carney Show”.

Watch for Lee Kravitz's, new blog at Psychology Today ! He’ll have his first post up shortly...Click >

“When Lee Kravitz lost his job as editor-in-chief of Parade magazine, he decided to spend a year connecting all the dots his busy working life had left emotionally adrift, reaching out to grasp the hands and hearts of family members, friends, and mentors he had left behind. His adventures in outreach are moving, and quietly inspiring.”—Barnes & Noble Review’s “Long List”. See review.

“Kravitz writes with an inspiring sincerity. His experiences are so familiar that it would be hard for readers not to reflect on their own unfinished business — and want to tend to it.”—The Denver Post Read full review.

Unfinished Business was the topic of Bill Arnold’s Strategic Aging column in the Arizona Republic on June 26.

Lee will be live on WJJG’s “Job Talk Radio” on August 19 (Naperville, IL).

“He was one of the many; he lost his job. But what he did next might be a bit distinctive. Instead of setting out to get a new job, he took a year to set some things straight, things that had been neglected during his years steadfastly dedicated to his profession. His unfinished business led him on ten journeys of redemption, including repaying long-overdue debts, keeping promises, and reaching out to a distant friend. The stuff that life should be made of - re-thinking, redoing, reliving.”— UrbanBaby Read blog.

Some more recent blog attention:
I Claudio.com
Bookchase.com
martinimade.com

“Kravitz writes with an inspiring sincerity. His experiences are so familiar that it would be hard for readers not to reflect on their own unfinished business -- and want to tend to it.” —Washington Post. Read full review.

Watch Lee Kravitz, author of Unfinished Business, on the Today Show.

Read an excerpt from Lee Kravitz's new book on The Today Show!

“This book will strike a chord with those of us who feel we've left some things behind in the relentless pursuit of work and careers. What better time than summer vacation when our bodies have left the office, but our minds may still be there, than to read this book and think about our own unfinished business.”—Republican Springfield, MA

“Kravitz sets out on a mission, devoting a year to completing the unfinished business in his life, including making amends to the people he has hurt. Self-effacing, self-aware, he embarks on a journey in which he reconnects with a schizophrenic aunt neglected by their family, forgives a high school nemesis and honors a forgotten promise to an underprivileged African boy. What could have turned into a self-congratulatory, Disneyesque odyssey becomes an occasion for real kindnesses and growing sensitivity.”—TIME

Read this great feature in the TIME'S magazine business supplement.

Lee got a plug in Oprah June magazine.

Listen to Lee Kravitz, author of Unfinished Business, in his interview with Neal Conan live on NPR's "Talk of the Nation"

Michael Ruhlman featured Unfinished Business on his popular site. According to Mr. Ruhlman, "It was the book I read while in Italy and I found it fascinating and couldn’t help but imagine, as any reader or listener must, what unfinished business I ought to be attending to." Read full post

Unfinished Business was the subject of Regina Brett’s column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer Read column.

New from the Huffington Post .

Here's a terrific front page feature in the Poughkeepsie Journal

Unfinished Business makes the Albany Times-Union’s local bestsellers list

"A candid account of how a person takes all the things he always meant to do and transforms them into meaningful learning experiences." This is part of a review that appeared in J., The Jewish News Weekly of No. California. Read full review.

And a nice mention in the Delta Democrat Times (Greenville, MS)

A web exclusive from BookPage

Jen Haupt will interview Lee for her Psychology Today blog "One True Thing" this week for a post tk.

A nice review in the Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, TX)

“Inspirational but never preachy, Kravitz’s memoir reminds us of what really matters…and shows us how to begin searching for, and finding it.”—Ann LaFarge, Hudson Valley News

“Kravitz presents an honest looks at himself as a workaholic who, jarred from his routine when fired from his job, decides to spend a year mending fractured relationships and catching up on forgotten promises. A lively read. In the often-obnoxious realm of the feel-good memoir, this one stands out as a rare success.”—Jew-ish.com Read full review.

“When award-winning journalist Lee Kravitz is laid off from his job, he realizes he has spent most of his life working too hard. He uses this life-changing moment as an opportunity to take stock of his life. Unfinished Business takes readers on 10 transformational journeys in which Kravitz reconnects with those dear to him and makes amends. The lesson to be shared: “Be mindful of what is most important, and act on it. The rewards will be immediate and lasting.”—Cleveland Jewish News. Read full review.

AOL News page "Good News Now" interviewed Lee. (post to come)

Lee Kravitz will appear live on the "Lanigan & Malone Morning Show" in Cleveland on June 10th ahead of his reading that night at Joseph Beth Booksellers.

Listen for a taped half hour interview on June 15 with Evergreen Radio Reading Service when Lee is in Seattle. They do a Literary News Show that is broadcast statewide on 3 public radio stations and online.

A great article on Unfinished Business in the Journal Newspapers (Seattle) here.

Lee will tape an interview on June 8 with “Amy’s Table” on WKRQ-FM in Cincinnati for their Father’s Day show.

A very nice review from Jen Miller on her blog.

The TIME magazine review will run in the issue dated May 31. The piece will be in the Global Business supplement, which goes to 1.6 million subscribers. The story will be inserted as a regular page in subscriber magazines. It will not be in the newsstand issue.

The New Haven Register has assigned the book for review to run ahead of Lee’s CT events on June 3. See Events.

Lee will be live on WCPN 90.3 FM (Cleveland NPR) show “Around Noon” on June 9th ahead of his Jo Beth reading on June 10. See Events.

A "heads up" on Unfinished Business author and book in the May/June — Yale Alumni Magazine

Lee Kravitz’s Unfinished Business mentioned in the New York Observer’s “Media Mob"

Got a mention in the April AARP Magazine . No small feat this!!

“[Kravitz’s] journeys…are truthful, generous and worthwhile. Through his experiences, he found meaning, an acceptance of life’s absurdity and the insight that so much comes down to attitude and keeping the many threads of life thrumming.”—Kirkus Reviews