I gave two “Rocky” talks recently, telling the stories of the people I met at the Rocky Steps, also providing books, and the response was wonderful.  

 “Michael Vitez spoke with us as our keynote address at our company meeting in December 2009.  We wanted to remind everyone of the persistence and determination our team demonstrated in 2009 [...]

STEADFAST GRIP OF A DYING MAN
published Dec. 20, 2009, The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Michael Vitez
Inquirer Staff Writer
Russell Nise, 77, lay in a bed at Abington Memorial Hospital on Sept. 10, three days before his death.
“I’m in such pain,” Nise said. “I can’t stand it. Somebody hold my hand.”
Fred Scott, his only friend in the world, reached [...]

Check out this PDF of A Love Story. And look at a second Love Story PDF! I am starting a new adventure. Let me tell your story.  As a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author, I’ve written hundreds if not thousands of stories — 20 of them listed on this website under My Favorites. I’ve decided [...]

I recently spoke about the power of storytelling at the annual ThinkAbout in Philadelphia.
I did a slide presentation on the people I met at the Rocky Steps while writing my book, Rocky Stories. I emphasized how these steps have become a place where people from all over the world come to celebrate their dreams, and [...]

In he last few weeks I’ve done three Rocky Stories presentations, and one was more fun than the next.
On Nov. 18, Tom Gralish and I presented a slide show and talk to all 750 students at Haddonfield Memorial High School. Our message was “Follow Your Dreams — and when life knocks you down, which it [...]

I spoke last night to a Bryn Mawr College journalism class taught by my friend and former colleague Tom Ferrick. Here is his very kind note to me after:
“Mike: I love you. You were an inspiration to the kids in the class. I asked them later for take aways from your talk and [...]

The Phillies won the world series last night.
I was there!
In a city that went 25 years without a major sports championship, the Phillies ended the drought last night — ironically after rain delay suspended the game for two days — beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 to become World Series champions.
I was there, section 119, [...]

I am ready to give up on baseball. I love the Philadelphia Phillies. I own a partial season subscription, and go to eight games a year, and watch nearly all the others. I had two world series tickets which I gave to my sons for game four. I love going to games and watching the [...]

Had a great visit to St. Mary’s school in Vineland to talk about motivation, inspiration and Rocky Stories. The class and staff loved it, and I had so much fun. You can see the story in the local newspaper below. And check out the links and the photographs. The opening act was a sparring match [...]

I spoke on June 26 as a keynote to the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers, giving a presentation on finding your dreams at the Rocky Steps. The essence of the presentation is to explain why people come from all over the world to run the Rocky Steps and introduce the audience to many of the [...]