Meet the Grogans Before there was Marley, there was a gleefully mischievous boy navigating his way through the seismic social upheaval of the 1960s. On the one side were his loving but comically traditional parents, whose expectations were clear. On the other were his neighborhood pals and all the misdeeds that followed. The more young John tried to straddle these two worlds, the more spectacularly, and hilariously, he failed. Told with Grogan's trademark humor and affection, The Longest Trip Home is the story of one son's journey into adulthood to claim his place in the world. It is a story of faith and reconciliation, breaking away and finding the way home again, and learning in the end that a family's love will triumph over its differences.

John Grogan (pronounced /'gruːgɛn/)(born March 20, 1957) is an American journalist and non-fiction writer. His memoir Marley & Me (2005) was a best-selling book about his family's dog Marley. 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 October 21, 2008.

He lives with his wife, Jenny, and their three children, Patrick, Conor, and Colleen in rural eastern Pennsylvania. Grogan's dog Marley appeared in the movie The Last Home Run. He was on film for less than 2 minutes when a van pulls up to a curb and a girl steps out followed by a boy with Marley.

Marley & Me has been adapted into a film that was released December 25, 2008 starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston.

Grogan is a graduate of Central Michigan University's Department of Journalism and wrote for the school newspaper, CM-Life.[1]