Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar , whowrote more than 30 books on
living a balanced life, has died in Texas. He was 86.
Ziglar, who had been suffering from pneumonia, died Wednesday at a
hospital in the Dallas suburb of Plano, said his personal assistant,
Jay Hellwig.
With an aim at helping people achieve success in their careers and
personal lives, in addition to a focus on Christianity, Ziglar was a
prolific speaker who appeared at events alongside world leaders
including several U.S. presidents and former British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher.
"Mr. Ziglar was the same guy behind the closed doors as he was
preparing for his presentations to thousands of people that he was
when we were sitting at the kitchen table and he was reading the
newspaper," Hellwig said.
Ziglar started his fulltime career in motivational speaking when he
was in his 40s. His first book, "See You at the Top," was published in
1975, when he was 49.
"He got saved at the age of 42, which means that he accepted Jesus
Christ as his savior," Hellwig said. "Ever since that day is what he
said was the turning point of his life. The last 41 years of his life
he lived fully with that as his mission."
"He also had the uncanny ability to make everyone he ran into feel
like they were his friend," Hellwig said.
Ziglar was a World War II veteran who grew up in Yazoo City, Miss.,
and then went to workin sales for a series of companies, where his
interest in motivational speaking grew, according to his Plano-based
company's website. Hellwig said Ziglar moved to Dallas inthe late
1960s.
Ziglar's company, which features more than adozen speakers advocating
the "Ziglar Way," offers motivation and performance training.
His book, "Confessions of a Grieving Christian," was written after the
1995 death of his oldest daughter, Suzan, at the age of 46.
After a 2007 fall down a flight of stairs left him with a brain
injury, Ziglar, along with another daughter, Julie Ziglar Norman,
wrote"Embrace the Struggle," a book that describedhow his life changed
after the injury.
In addition to his daughter, Ziglar is survived by his wife Jean, with
whom he celebrated 66years of marriage on Monday; his son, Tom Ziglar;
and daughter Cindy Oates.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
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