Zig Ziglar died Wednesday at age 86, a deep-voiced motivational speaker whose clever way with words inspired millions to stop looking for shortcuts to success -- and instead earn it the old-fashioned way by rolling up their sleeves and getting to work.
"Zig Ziglar" was a trending term on Twitter, Yahoo and Google today, social media outlets that were unfathomable when a young Ziglar returned from World War II and landed a job in sales.
It was on the job that Ziglar developed a curiosity about human nature -- What made a man tick? Why did some succeed where others failed? -- that ultimately led to a thriving career in motivational speaking.
Ziglar's speaking career came later in life, something that no doubt added to his appeal to many Americans who felt that after a certain age there was nothing to do but give up. Ziglar's first book, "See You at the Top," was published in 1975 when he was 49.
He would go on to rub elbows with U.S. presidents and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, according to the Associated Press.
Ziglar's personal assistant told the Associated Press that Ziglar was suffering from pneumonia when he passed away at a hospital in the Dallas suburb of Plano.
A devout Christian, Ziglar credited his faith and his red-headed wife, Jean, with much of his success. The couple had celebrated their 66th "honeymoon" on Monday. (Watch the video below to find out why Ziglar and his chose to celebrate "honeymoons" instead of anniversaries, and his sweet little joke about his wife's hair color.)
To today's audiences, Ziglar's words might seem kitschy and a little bit corny, or involved wordplay. Among them: "Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street" and "You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great."
But it was that same easy-to-remember, home-spun simplicity that caught on with people including rapper-actor L.L. Cool J and social media guru Jeff Bullas, and prompted many to tweet their sadness at Ziglar's death and pass along their favorite Ziglarisms.
What follows are just a few of the Zig Ziglar-inspired Tweets, Facebook postings and YouTube videos being shared online today:
Zig Ziglar's should be remembered as an expert on sales who never sold a thing except his sales expertise consisting _mostly_ of long well established sales principles.
No one can argue that isn't salemanship.
A quote I think I remember from Zig: "It's the things you do you don't have to do that could have made the difference (sale/no sale) after it's too late to do them".
RIP, Zig. I did learn a lot from you.
donjames38 at 5:21 AM November 29, 2012
I drove limo for about 8 yrs. I had the priviledge of driving for Zig. He was a super, super guy to be around. Always upbeat! I spent about 4 days with him driving him around Madison, WI to meetings, sight seeing, and eating together. Very good Christian! Before he left Madison, we had our picture taken together and exchanged phone numbers. Talked with him a few times on the phone and finally lost track of him for he did a lot of traveling.
RIP, my friend!
donjames38 at 5:20 AM November 29, 2012
I drove limo for about 8 yrs. I had the priviledge of driving for Zig. He was a super, super guy to be around. Always upbeat! I spent about 4 days with him driving him around Madison, WI to meetings, sight seeing, and eating together. Very good Christian! Before he left Madison, we had our picture taken together and exchanged phone numbers. Talked with him a few times on the phone and finally lost track of him for he did a lot of traveling.
RIP, my friend!
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As an editor and reporter, Michael Muskal has covered local, national, economic and foreign issues at three newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. @latimesmuskal
Matt Pearce, a University of Missouri graduate, has previously written for the Kansas City Star, the Los Angeles Review of Books, The New Inquiry and The Pitch. @mattdpearce
