Gary Halbert died today.

Very sad. He wasn’t old enough, whatever that means, but if you’re one of the lucky ones who had the pleasure of knowing him, you know he probably lived as much in one life as any three people put together.

Gary was a true original. The kind they mean when they say, “They broke the mold after they made him.”

Except Gary would never say, “They broke the mold after him,” because that’s a tired expression.

And when it came to coming up with new ways to express an idea, new ways to hit you between the eyes (old metaphor) with plain black and white text, there are few who could hold a candle (another one) to Gary.

Gary was one of the more purely creative people I’ve known. And smart. He just didn’t seem to think like other people. But he sure could relate to them with plain English.

For marketers everywhere, and especially for aspiring copywriters, Gary was a real inspiration.

One of the best things about him was that he gave away all of his old newsletters — many of them pure gems of wit, tips and ideas — on his web site The Gary Halbert Letter.

Though he called it “The Most Valuable Website on the Entire Internet!” — you didn’t even have to opt-in to read all of his old material.

By the way, many of us who teach internet marketing have always told people to read all Gary’s material and print out his old newsletters because you never knew if he might change his mind and take them down. After awhile, I believed he never would. Gary liked people reading his prose, and he made his living as a real, working copywriter. The old newsletters did more for his client development than any client meeting ever could.

I’m sure that whoever has control of Gary’s site will leave his material up — I’m pretty sure that’s the way Gary would want it. But you never know, maybe some hosting bill won’t get paid. If you don’t have all of Gary’s newsletters, and you’re serious about marketing, you should. TheGaryHalbertLetter.com

If you never had the pleasure of meeting him, sadly, you’ve missed your chance. But if you hang around those who knew him for long at all, you’ll hear enough Gary stories to make you feel like you knew him, too.

Gary always had the best stories.