A person who’s image I see at work every single day since July, has passed away yesterday. Zig Ziglar, American author, salesman, and motivational speaker – and someone’s whose image & quotes are on the wall in the training room at my office and in some of my training slides – and who had been suffering from pneumonia, died at a hospital in the Dallas suburb of Plano, Texas. He was 86 years old.

Born Hilary Hinton Ziglar in Coffee County, Alabama to parents John Silas Ziglar and Viola Ziglar, Zig served in the U.S. Navy during World War II (circa 1943 to 1945). Ziglar later worked as a salesman in a succession of companies. In 1968 he became a vice president and training director for the Automotive Performance company, moving to Dallas, Texas. As of 2010, Ziglar still traveled around taking part in motivational seminars, despite a fall down a flight of stairs in 2007 that left him with short-term memory problems.

Hilary Hinton “Zig” Ziglar (November 6, 1926 – November 28, 2012)

There are 6 people whose images and a quote each are on the training room wall. 2 are Indians – the other 4 are Ziglar, William Arthur Ward, Peter Drucker & Steve Jobs. The 4 Americans are now all dead, which means the 2 Indians better be careful!