W. Clement Stone
| William Clement Stone | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 4, 1902 Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | September 3, 2002 (aged 100) Evanston, Illinois |
William Clement Stone (May 4, 1902 – September 3, 2002) was a businessman, philanthropist and New Thought self-help book author.
He was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 4, 1902. His father died in 1905 leaving his family in debt. In 1908 he hawked newspapers on the South Side of Chicago while his mother worked as a dressmaker. By 1915 he owned his own newsstand. In 1918 he moved to Detroit to sell casualty insurance for his mother.
Stone dropped out of high school to sell insurance full-time. He received a diploma from the YMCA Central High School in Chicago. He took courses at Detroit College of Law and Northwestern University.
Much of what is known about Stone comes from his autobiography The Success System That Never Fails. In that book, he tells of his early business life, which started with selling newspapers in restaurants. At the time, this was a novel thing to do, a departure from the typical practice of boys hawking newspapers on street corners.
At first, restaurant managers of restaurants tried to discourage him, but he gradually won them over by his politeness, charm, persistence and the fact that most restaurant patrons had no objection to this new way of selling papers.
From there, he graduated to selling insurance policies in downtown business offices. His mother managed his new career and together they were very successful.
Stone ran $100 into millions with his strong desire to succeed and by putting into practice the principles outlined in the well-known self-help book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
Stone was a living example of the proverbial rags-to-riches protagonist in the Horatio Alger's stories he loved. Eventually he became an 'angel' to others, lifting some from the gutter to the heights of success. One of his great success stories was Og Mandino, an alcoholic whom Stone took under his wing. The relationship led to a new life for Mandino, who became the publisher of Success Magazine. In 1978, Stone met an aggressive young securities broker named Christopher Nolan and recruited him as his Director of Education for the Entrepreneurship Forums. The forums were created by Stone to educate aspiring business owners in Chicago.
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