His is a name known only to copywriters and marketers, but you've probably seen one of his ads and never known it.

Gary Halbert, "the Prince of Print," passed away last night.

Gary was a master of the art of persuasion and one of the greatest of the modern day copywriters. In fact, Gary would tell you himself that he was the greatest. He never lacked for self-esteem.

For copywriters and marketers, his The Gary Halbert Letter was must reading. In fact, for anyone trying to market a product or service, both on-or-off the Web, I recommend you visit his site and start reading. It'll take a while, there is tons of material on it, but it's well worth the time.

And a bit of warning, Gary could be a tad profane. Still, some of his letters are pure gold and any time I can find copy he has written, I quickly save it for future reference.

I never met him, but I did exchange a series of e-mails with him once on the subject of the best day to run print ads in the newspaper. Neither of us could convince the other who was right, so Gary pronounced me a ****weasel, which, believe it or not, is something of an honor among Halbert followers.

Wish I'd kept that e-mail exchange now.

Although he was known primarily for his print ads, he had a tremendous influence on many online marketers and copywriters, including me. 

He will be missed in the copywriting/marketing community.

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