The KellyGram

Published by Bob Kelly

Resident Wordsmith and Quotemeister

WordCrafters, Inc.

www.wordcrafters.info

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Welcome to Issue 71 of The KellyGram!

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This month, I've changed our regular KellyGram format in order to pay tribute to a dear friend of more than 30 years who died recently. On October 16, just a week before his 81^st birthday, Charlie "Tremendous" Jones left this world behind to begin his long-anticipated future with the God he loved and served for most of his life.

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In This Issue:

• Meet Charlie Jones
• What's in a Name?
• A Different Perspective
• The Books You Read
• The Quote Corner
• Hollering and Hugging!
• Odds and Ends
• The Last Word

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MEET CHARLIE JONES

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Charles Edward Jones was born in Tallassee, Alabama on October 23, 1927. When he was five, his family moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At age 22, he began a career in life insurance sales. By 1965, he'd built an agency with more than $100 million of life insurance in force.

Despite his success in that field, Charlie decided to leave the insurance business and become a public speaker, where he would achieve even greater success. He went on to receive just about every honor available to professional speakers. In 1988, his colleagues in National Speakers Association (NSA) named him a recipient of the Council of Peers Award for Excellence, accompanied by membership in the Speaker Hall of Fame.

He was later named one of the top 50 speakers of the 20^th century and, in 2007, NSA selected him as the recipient of its highest honor, The Cavett Award, named for NSA founder Cavett Robert.

Attending a Charlie Jones presentation was always a unique and unforgettable experience, combining inspiration, motivation and laughter – oh, yes, lots and lots of laughter, and even an occasional tear. Above all, Charlie got you thinking. "Don't take notes of what I say," he'd tell his audiences. "Write down what you think, as a result of something I may say." Having attended dozens of his programs over the years, I can certainly vouch for the value of that advice.

Charlie was always a great encourager, to his family, friends, colleagues, and even complete strangers. Whether it was a waitress, a cab driver, a flight attendant or a store clerk, Charlie's opening line would typically be, "Thank you for your smile." He was often asked, "But what if they're not smiling?" His reply: "Well, because I'd already thanked them, they'd realize they owed me one and would usually smile right back."

Charlie was also the most humble man I've ever known. Despite his fame, he always insisted that, when being introduced from the platform, the one introducing him could take no more than 15 seconds to do so. As that deadline approached, Charlie would come up behind the introducer, express his thanks and, much to the amusement of his audience, gently move the person aside.

Charlie then would explain: "The reason I only allow 15 seconds for my introduction is that's exactly how long it takes for me to tell my entire life story," which he'd proceed to do: "I'm not what I think I am. I'm not what I'd hoped I'd be, and I'm not what I ought to be. But, by the grace of God, I'm not what I was. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see."

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WHAT'S IN A NAME?

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Those who never experienced Charlie might wonder how a man described as humble could be known as "Tremendous." The first time I heard his name mentioned, back in 1975, I thought he might be a professional wrestler or boxer, with an outsized ego. But how wrong I was.

In his Introduction to the first book we did together, The Tremendous Power of Prayer, Charlie explained how he got that name:

"I realize it's a ridiculous nickname, one that's been a source of embarrassment to me for years. It certainly isn't a nickname I chose, and I don't wear it because I've accomplished great things. No, the simple truth is that I acquired it solely because of a limited vocabulary.

"That's right! Early in my insurance career, whenever one of my agents would report that he or she had sold a policy, I'd respond, 'Tremendous!' Or when a young couple at church would announce the birth of their new baby or the purchase of their first home, my reply would invariably be 'Tremendous!' Even the colleague who told me his mother-in-law had just died was likely to hear 'Tremendous!' I used the word so often that it stuck, and I've never been able to get away from it or live it down.

"No, dear reader, there's nothing tremendous about Charlie Jones."

The word "tremendous" also appeared often in his letters. For example, the oldest one in my files is dated April 6, 1982. As usual, it starts with "My dear Tremendous Bob," and ends with "Tremendously." The word also appears several times in the body of the letter.

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A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

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There are thousands of us who disagree that "there's nothing tremendous about Charlie Jones." Famed author Og Mandino called him "one of the most dynamic speakers our country has produced in the past 50 years." Dr. Norman Vincent Peale described him as "one of the greatest motivational speakers of our time. He has blessed the lives of many, including me." Ken Blanchard wrote: "Your name says it all. Not only is your sense of humor fabulous, but your message about humanity, spirit and heart are inspirational. You're the best." Past NSA president Don Thoren called him "the most important mentor in my life," a statement that hundreds of others whose lives he touched would emphatically echo.

During the mid-1980s, I had the honor and privilege of serving for several years as Chairman of the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast in Pasadena, California. In 1987, my last year in that role, Charlie was kind enough to accept my invitation to serve as our speaker, and generously waived his usual fee. He was such a popular choice that the event proved to be the largest breakfast gathering in the 100+ year history of Pasadena.

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THE BOOKS YOU READ

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One of Charlie's most famous sayings was: "You're the same today as you'll be five years from now except for two things, the people you meet and the books you read." In 1966, he launched a company called Executive Books which, over the years, has had cumulative sales well in excess of $100 million. Charlie himself has given away countless thousands of books. "I hand them out instead of business cards," he said. "People may throw cards away, but they're unlikely to do the same with books."

In a long-ago letter to a young grandson, he offered this advice:

"A proper diet is good for your body and the best books are good for your mind. Your life will be determined by the people you associate with and the books you read. Many people you'll come to love will be met in books. Read biographies, autobiographies and history. Your books will provide all the friends, mentors, role models and heroes you'll ever need.

"Biographies will help you see there is nothing that can happen to you that wasn't experienced by many who used their failures, disappointments and tragedies as stepping-stones to a more tremendous life. Many of my best friends are people I've never met: Oswald Chambers, George Mueller, Charles Spurgeon, A.W. Tozer, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, François Fenelon, Jean Guyon and hundreds of others."

About reading, his message to just about everyone he met was the same: "Don’t read to be big, read to be down to earth. Don’t read to be smart, read to be wise. Don’t read to memorize, read to realize. Don’t read to just learn, read to sometimes unlearn. Don’t read a lot, read just enough to keep yourself curious and hungry, to learn more, to keep getting younger as you grow older."

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THE QUOTE CORNER

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It will certainly come as no surprise that the source of all the following quotes, on a variety of topics, is Charlie "Tremendous" Jones.

Success is the product of character. The development of your character is in your own hands, and poverty plus honest ambition is the best environment for character-building.

Make your decision, make it yours, and live and die by it.

A friend is: a push when you’ve stopped; a word when you’re lonely; a guide when you’re searching; a smile when you’re sad; a song when you’re glad.

If you ever give something to get something, you're not giving, in the true sense of the word. You're trading!

We never stop growing until we stop learning, and people who are learning this simple truth will grow old but never get old.

A good listener is a silent flatterer.

The reason some of us find it difficult to think is that we haven’t had any previous experience.

If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise.

It isn’t necessary to fly over the South Pole, climb the Matterhorn, nor swim the English Channel, to find adventure. Life itself is an adventure.…Doing things that lift or steer humanity to higher levels is not only an adventure but also a service to mankind and to God.

Lord, we’re not just thankful for what You give us. We are thankful most of all for the privilege of learning to be thankful.