Legendary marketer Gary Halbert died over the weekend in his sleep.

Frankly, I’m reeling from the news.

I credit Gary with getting me hooked on copywriting and direct response marketing…
almost 20 years ago. He’s been a fixture in my marketing life ever since… and always will be.

Back in the late eighties I bought his ‘How To Make Maximum Money In Minimum Time’ book from an ad and before I knew it, I’d subscribed (as a broke college student) to his $197 a year newsletter, The Gary Halbert Letter.

Truly, I dropped whatever I was doing and read it the moment it came in, along with anything Gary has ever sent me or emailed.

He was my first mentor… and a huge influence on me, especially in the early days. He introduced me to greats like Jay Abraham, Dan Kennedy, Robert Collier, and Carl Galletti… all back before anyone had heard of the first Internet connection.

When I had my first business success in the early 90’s, I modeled my copy after Gary’s… and did six figures in 90 days… which rocked my world. Before Gary, I tried every stupid get rich quick idea in the book (and a few that weren’t).

Gary was absolutely, without a doubt one of a kind and without equal.

And, yes, a guy who calls himself a shitweasel and his reader ‘buckwheat’ is going to have his critics… and he wouldn’t have been Gary if he didn’t have people all stirred up. I can tell you that on the two occasions I had the good fortune to speak with him, I was impressed by his sincerity and the biggest of hearts.

Back in late, late 1999, after reading something he sent me, I emailed Gary and left him my phone number. Later, I checked my caller ID and a call from LA had come in… which was where he was with his son Bond.

To say I was stunned really doesn’t quite cover it. I couldn’t believe he actually called. I had to find out if it was really him…

When I called the number and when a hotel operator answered, I took a chance and asked for ‘Gary Halbert’, and was connected. He was surprised I reached him, but we had a good chat for about an hour on a number of things, including the impending Y2K that was only a few days away.

Then, a couple years ago Michel Fortin invited me to go to the Fusion Seminar where I finally got to meet Gary in person and chat a bit… and I watched him give incredibly sage advice to a brilliant marketer and got to see him in action. He poured out one bullseye idea after another… I was spellbound.

Gary wasn’t just a money making genius… he massively extended himself to raise money for victims of Hurricane Andrew in ‘91 and of course, Hurricane Katrina, more recently… to name just two examples.

Can’t afford his seminars or products? All you have to do is read his newsletters and you’ll see he put a TON of content out there for anyone to read online… absolutely free. It’s no surprise he had one of the most popular websites online…

Gary was willing to commit ‘image suicide’ and share the darkest and brightest moments of his life, which is probably why I felt I ‘knew him’ long before I ever met him. Because of his candor I was able to navigate some very tough times of my own without thinking I was the only one who ever made huge mistakes. I’m not kidding… there were times so dark for me that he was my only reference point for which way was up… to the light.

If you like my ’style’ of sharing from my personal life, I have to credit Gary with inspiring me to do so… he seems to have held nothing back, from personal flaws to hard life lessons, he put it all out there literally uncensored. Man, could that guy tell a story that sucked your whole mind and emotions in.

He was a colorful, larger than life character who always pushed his readers to be players, to get in the game. He was a champion for copy, for selling with passion, for changing your life by following his brutally simple and effective methods.

And unbelievably, he has passed away. I now count as one of my greatest losses that I didn’t spend more time with him when I had the chance at his seminar.

If there was one thing I think Gary didn’t have enough of was peace… he always seemed to be tackling some giant opportunity or wrestling with immense challenges… and after such a legendary run, if he was ready to go, if it was his time, I say, he’s earned his rest more than most. I know he has the last laugh now.

While I didn’t get to know him personally the way I always hoped I would… I am eternally grateful I got to meet him at all.

Gary was a marketing legend and a giant in the truest sense… and the tales of his victories and escapades will be told over and over… as he’s been around long before this whole ‘Internet’ thing came along… and he’s got the amazing conquests and record setting campaigns to prove it.

More importantly… he had a way with words. If you read the first word of one of his letters, you read all the way to the end… and you buy, too.

I just can’t really wrap my mind around the idea that he’ll never write another edition of The Gary Halbert Letter… and my heart goes out to everyone who knew and loved him, especially his sons, Syrian, his girlfriend, and Theresa, his long time and much loved assistant.

I predict there will be a run on the ‘Boron Letters’ on eBay… and rightfully so. If you don’t know what I mean, look on his site in the archived issues of his newsletter.

If you’ve never heard of Gary or would like to see a treasure trove of his stuff, check out The Gary Halbert Letter — I don’t know how long the site will be up now that he’s passed… so I suggest you check it out today.

The Prince of Print, the Worlds Greatest Copywriter, and the Alpha Shitweasel has officially achieved immortality — and I want to thank him for giving me a direction to follow all those years ago when I was a broke, confused college student wondering what I could possibly do with my English major (and my life!)… and The Worlds Greatest Copywriter showed me the way for close to two decades.

I spent $197 annually on his newsletter at times when I literally needed that money to pay essential expenses… but Gary was the only one back then who spoke to me and showed me unwavering faith in the power of words to build a business — and I can’t really explain how important that was to me.

It’s ironic that here I am trying to write a tribute to Gary, The Prince of Print, and I’m simply at a loss for words.

His passing is yet another reminder that whatever you may think of your life today, our tomorrows are numbered, so make the most of this moment you do have.

And in this moment, I’m saying thank you to an old friend and mentor who has left and incredible impression on me and a body of work that is groundbreaking, inspiring, and deadly profitable.

Here’s to Gary… when he said "This may be the most important letter you will ever read…" he was right.

Reading on changed my life…

I’m going to go smoke a REALLY nice cigar and read an old print newsletter from Gary C. Halbert.

- Craig