Gary Halbert has passed away...

John Reese reported on another site that Gary Halbert has passed on.

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by MichaelWinicki

John Reese reported on another site that Gary Halbert has passed on.

That's very sad news...

Gary Halbert was one of the copywriters I really admired (as so many others have too)... If you haven't read some of Gary Halbert's newsletters at www.thegaryhalbertletter.com - then please do so... You'll learn from a master...

I feel lucky that I met Gary Halbert once too (though relatively briefly) in 2003 at a seminar. I mentioned Sowpub to him... And he did post here once. (That post is not yet in the archives though, since they're not fully updated yet... I may dig it up and repost it...) He was a giant in the world of marketing...

Rest in peace, Gary... And my condolences to his loved ones...

- Dien

[Dien Rice]

Here is the one post Gary Halbert made to Sowpub - on 21 November 2004... (There were some doubters, but it's been pretty well established it really was him.)

Here, he explains (well, partially) how - today - he would improve the famous "Nancy letter" to get even better results...

Re: You're ONE of the all time greats...

Posted By: gary halbert <[email protected]>
Date: Sunday, 21 November 2004, at 10:37 p.m.

In Response To: You're ONE of the all time greats... (Steve MacLellan)

This is Gary Halbert. I have never heard of the Haylings guy. But, I sure would like to see a copy of any of his books. Were I doing the family crest project today, it would be much more profitable. Why? Because, after 33 years, I finally figured out the answer to a vexing problem that would make the response exponentially higher. The original letter was signed with the name Nancy L.Halbert who was my wife at that time. Now, consider we were mailing to people named Farnsworth and the envelope and letter came from Nancy L. FARNSWORTH! Or, if we were mailing to people named Lasen, the letter would come from Nancy L. Larsen. Well, it,s logistically easy to do such a thing. But, it,s llegal and you would be charged with fraud. What I finally figured out is how to do it in a LEGAL way that also would not offend the recipient. Yeah, 33 years later I figured it out. Nobody know how to do this but me. But, my old partner, Dennis Haslinger is dead and I don,t know anyone who could exploit my marketing like he was able to. Oh well, to me it,s enough for me that I finally figured it out. That,s the longest it EVER took me to figure out a marketing problem. By the way, some of the people on this forum have said some really nice things about me which I appreciate. Anyone who cares to can write me at [email protected] Sincerely, Gary

[Ankesh]

Dear Mr Hutchinson

Did you know that your family name was recorded with a coat of arms in ancient heraldic archives more than seven centuries ago?

My husband and I discovered this while doing some research for some friends of ours who have the same last name as you do. We've had an artist recreate the coat of arms exactly as described in the ancient records. This drawing, along with other information about the name has been printed up into an attractive one-page report.

The report tells the story of the very old and distinguished family name of Hutchinson. It tells what the name means, its origin, the original family motto, its place in history and about the famous people who share it.

The report so delighted our friends that we have had a few extra copies made in order to share this information with other people of the same name.

Framed, these reports make distinctive wall decorations and they are great gifts for relatives. It should be remembered that we have not traced anyone's individual family tree, but have researched back through several centuries to find out about the earliest people named Hutchinson.

All we are asking for them is enough to cover the added expense of having the extra copies printed and mailed (see below). If you are interested, please let us know right away and send the correct amount in cash or cheque for the number of reports you want. We'll send them promptly by return mail.

Sincerely
Nancy L. Halbert

PS If you are ordering only one report, send $2. Additional reports ordered at the same time and sent to the same address are $1 each.

Hold on Michael you are reporting on something someone else said about someone else but you give very little information.

Where, when and what did John Reese actually say about his passing away.

In one recent newsletter Gary talked about a criticial illness but said he was fine now.

Are you sure John Reese wasn't commenting on Gary's illness that COULD'VE killed him?

Anyway I would need more confirmation on that.

A similar rumor went out about Jim Straw some time ago that turned out to be untrue.

Here's something that is confirmed about THE passing of another direct mail GIANT.

Bob Stone, Direct Mail Legend Dies

[Ankesh]

John Reese posted about Gary Halbert's death on the warrior forum and Michel Fortin's forum.

Not sure if it is true - but I doubt John would make such a post without being sure...

From the Warrior Forum:

I don't know if it's been posted or not yet, but Gary Halbert has passed away.

I am extremely sad over hearing this news. I have been learning from Gary since I was 15 years old and was blessed to call him MY FRIEND.

Gary was one of the greatest marketers in the history of mankind. And that is not an understatment.

This is a sad day indeed.

-John Reese

[Dien Rice]

Thanks Ankesh for sharing Gary Halbert's famous "Nancy letter"... As far as I know, the letter you posted in your post was the only (or certainly one of the few) direct mail pieces which was mailed to a "phone book list"... They just got the names out of the phone book! (Matched to the customer's surname...)

Here is another famous one of Gary's ads... His personal ad. I believe he ran this as a full-page ad in an L.A. newspaper...

You can see it here...

http://www.sowpub.net/garyhalbertad/

- Dien

Doubt John would have put out that kind of message unless he was Definitely sure...

Especially knowing that the Blogging world would be posting Sympathies and Sharing Great memories...

Yes, the information World has changed in many ways...

Lots more to come I'm sure...
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsea...G=Search+Blogs
http://technorati.com/search/Gary+Ha...as+passed+away

Phil

[Dien Rice]

Gary Halbert had his detractors as well as his fans... Some of it due to his "abrasive" (and even "vulgar") style in his newsletters, some of it due to other things... But I don't think right after a person's death is the right time to bring them up, when some people are grieving... (Plus there's a "no insults" policy here which comes into play too...)

No matter what you think of the guy, you can't deny that he was an "ace" at his game, which was direct-response copywriting... and one of those at the top of that particular game...

Thanks... Dien

Dien - you're right, bottom line, and like I said - no hard feelings at all on my end...

Best,

KK