R.I.P. Stephen Covey

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by Seattle Jon (bio)

I was saddened today to read that Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, died at 79 due to complications from a bicycle accident in April. I hadn’t heard of Stephen Covey before my mission, but The Seven Habits was a book of scripture in the Japan Fukuoka Mission during the mid-90’s thanks to the Ammon Project (maybe Saint Mark and I will do a joint post on the AP someday). I internalized the habits to such an extent that I sought out and won an internship at Franklin Covey after I got home. I even dated his niece for awhile (I didn’t stalk seek her out, too, it happened naturally) and spent some time in his home. I clearly remember his living room wall – it was very tall and wide – covered floor to ceiling with hundreds of framed pictures, most of them filled with family and friends. I remember being overwhelmed by the memories contained on that wall and hoping that someday I would also have so many people to love and be loved by. I’m sure this is a sad day for the people in those photos, but the memories … those will never go away even if he has.