Zig Ziglar

Hilary Hinton "Zig" Ziglar (born 6 November 1926) is an American author, salesperson, and motivational speaker. His latest book (as of 2007) is God's Way Is Still the Best Way. He is an evangelical Christian, an avid fan of the Dallas Cowboys, as well as an enthusiastic golfer.

Biography

Zig Ziglar was born in Coffee County, Alabama, United States, North America. His parents were John Silas and Lila Ziglar. He was the tenth of twelve children.

In 1931, when Ziglar was four years old, his father accepted a management position at a Mississippi farm, and his family moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi, where he spent most of his childhood. In 1932, his father died of a stroke, and his younger sister died two days later, leaving his mother to raise the remaining eleven children alone.

Ziglar served in the Navy during World War II (circa 1943 to 1945). He was in the Navy V-12 Navy College Training Program, attending the University of South Carolina.

Ziglar later worked as a salesman in a succession of companies, during which time his sales skills improved and his interest in motivational speaking grew.

In 1968, Ziglar became a vice president and training director for the Automotive Performance company, moving to Dallas, Texas, where he still lives today.

In 1970, Ziglar went into the business of motivational speaking full-time. He often incorporates his strong Christian values into his enthusiastic speaking.