ew names elicit immediate worldwide recognition like the name Zig Ziglar. He has been an icon in the business of motivational speaking and writing for over 35 years. Few men can stand alone on a stage and command the attention of thousands like he can. However, if you have been to one of his recent outings, you will have noticed a change in the presentation format. Rather than a one-man show with Mr. Ziglar utilizing the entirety of the stage alone, there is a new face sharing the platform. He is now being interviewed on stage by his youngest daughter and editor of his books, Julie Norman.

Chipmunks and heroes

"When I was growing up, my dad was Zig Ziglar, the pots and pans salesman. I knew what it was like for Dad to make his living on commission. We always had what we needed, but this was before the name Zig Ziglar was so well known," says Julie about life as the daughter of author and public speaker Zig Ziglar. "He didn't start speaking full time as a way to make a living until 1970, around the time he came to know Jesus.”

Julie Norman with her parents, Zig and Jean Ziglar

"Daddy has always been a kind and positive person. When I was little, I had a pet chipmunk. One day, I was cleaning out his cage and had put him in a cardboard box with a lid on it. Well, the family cat got curious and knocked the lid off the box. Naturally, the chipmunk got out and I started crying for Daddy to help. He chased that chipmunk all over the yard until it ran up on the neighbor's house and between the louvered windows and the frame.”  

“Daddy climbed up and pulled the chipmunk out of its hiding place. Of course, the chipmunk sank his teeth into Daddy's thumb, but Daddy wouldn't let go. He climbed down and Mom found a cookie box. It wasn't until he had shaken the chipmunk off his finger that Daddy stopped to tend to his punctured thumb. I will never forget watching him chase that chipmunk around, but what really stuck with me is that he did all that for me. He was — and still is — my hero."

You don't talk to Julie very long without hearing about Zig Ziglar, but it quickly becomes obvious that she, too, has a story to share. It is easy to get wrapped up in her father's story and miss Julie's testimony of bad choices overcome by God's never-ending grace.

In 1970, Zig Ziglar, who wasn't a Christian himself at the time, sent his three girls to a Bill Gothard conference. Her two sisters, Suzan and Cindy, only went to the first session; but Julie went back. "At the end, he gave an altar call. I gave my life to the Lord there, and I knew that I had a transformed heart. But I then went home to an unchurched family. I really didn't know where to go with my salvation at that point, so I quickly drifted back to my previous relationships and bad behavior."

Amazing grace

Like many new believers, Julie did not understand the principle of grace. She knew that she had given her heart to Jesus, but she felt like God could not love her when she was "out there sinning up a storm." As she puts it, "Daddy is the poster child for 'do it right' and I am the poster child for bad choices."

Julie married early, divorced early, and began a lifestyle that led to an addiction to alcohol. "I have always said that there is no greater hell than living a worldly life when you know that you have given your heart to Jesus. That was the hell I lived in for a long time," she says. "There wasn't anything that I did wrong that I didn't know I was breaking Jesus' heart." She was just unable to stop for several years.

"I didn't want anybody to know who I was related to because I didn't want them to think badly of Daddy because of my lifestyle or my bad behavior. It was embarrassing to me because I didn't want to humiliate him or take away from the good he was doing. I was just out of control. I had this life that I didn't want Daddy or Mom to know about."

It was after her divorce that Julie found a church home where she was taught what grace was. "I began to understand that I really had been forgiven once and for all, and that God loved me in spite of what I had done. I had thought that he wouldn't have anything to do with me after I had drifted so far away. Now I knew that he still loved me and welcomed me home."

Zig Ziglar, international motivational speaker and author

At that point, Zig Ziglar had become a Christian and was having success in his motivational speaking and book writing.

Julie and Goliath

"The Israelite army looked at Goliath and figured he was too big to hit. David looked at him and knew he was too big to miss." (Zig Ziglar)

Julie had faced Goliath, and like the Israelites, had run from him for a long time. When she realized the biblical principle of grace, she knew that God still loved her and his grace was sufficient to cover her sin - past, present and future. Her relationship with God had never changed, but her fellowship had been broken for some time. Now it was restored. Now she faced what probably seemed to her just as daunting a task. She needed to tell her parents what had been going on.

When asked how the conversation went when she first told them about her alcoholism, Julie replies, "Oh, Momma said, 'You don't drink!' This was after I had been in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) for several months. I told her that I just didn't drink in front of her and Daddy."

"Daddy asked questions like, 'Well, Little One, how did this get started?' He wanted to know why something like this got started. He was extremely concerned and very glad that I had taken the steps to overcome my addiction. Then he started talking about AA in books he would write. It took him several years before he could write in a book that it was us, or me, or my husband - that alcoholism actually existed in our family. My parents were both raised in a time when you just didn't talk about problems in the family outside of the family. Things are changing now."

Jean and Zig Ziglar with daughter Julie Norman

Remembering the conversation with Julie, Jean Ziglar says, "I was shocked because I had no idea. She didn't do this in front of us. I have always been flabbergasted. I think I said, 'You don't drink!'" Zig Ziglar recalls, "We were more disappointed than shocked; but the reality is that, by the time we learned about it, part of the problem had already been pretty well solved."

He continues, "We don't saw a lot of sawdust, so our love for her never diminished. She is our little girl and we love her very, very much. We understood how temptation works through our associates, and how the circumstances we put ourselves in affect our decisions. She now edits all my books and she is such a delightful person to work with. Julie is so loving and so giving that I never even think about that anymore - I really don't."

Little One and Daddy

Julie Norman and her father, Zig Ziglar

It is easy to see, but hard to explain a relationship like Julie and her father share. When he talks about her, he calls her "Little One." When she talks about him, she calls him "Daddy." She describes him as transparent and totally obedient to God. He says that she is loving and has a servant's heart. These descriptions sound like a little girl and a young father describing each other, but the passage of time has served to intensify rather than erode their very special relationship.

When asked if they think that Julie's story is one that needs to be told, Zig Ziglar says without hesitation, "I certainly do! The way she has lived her life, her attitude and her servant's heart have given her a desire to encourage other people and be a role model to them ... it would make a wonderful story. We are very proud of her."

A family enterprise

The personal relationship shared by these two carries over into their business relationship. Zig Ziglar's company is something of a family enterprise. His son Tom is CEO and Julie has added interviewing her father on stage to her editing duties. Middle sister, Cindy, works in accounting and customer service, and niece Katherine Lemmons is project manager.

Before her death in 1995 at the age of 46, the oldest of the three sisters wrote the newsletter for the company. Julie says she also made it her responsibility to keep everyone laughing. "While Suzan was at work, the practical jokes were over the top."

Zig Ziglar wrote his book, "Confessions of a Grieving Christian," about the loss of Suzan. He calls it the hardest book he has ever written, but one that has touched many believers in their time of loss. One of the chapters contains the journal Julie's husband Jim Norman, whom Suzan called "Big Old Jim," kept throughout the ordeal.

As his editor for the past 14 years, Julie reads and edits all the books that Zig Ziglar writes. "I have talked with a lot of publishers and editors over the years about their horror stories concerning authors and their unwillingness to change even a single word in their manuscript. Daddy is not that way. He welcomes ideas and suggestions because he wants everything he does to be the best that it can be. He is that way in his life as well as his writing."

Still an inspiration

In March 2007 Zig Ziglar suffered a fall. As a result of his head injury, he has short-term memory loss. For most people who have spent their whole life in the business of either sales or motivation, this would be a devastating event. Instead, he is living out the advice he has given people all these years. He continues to speak in front of thousands of people. All that has changed is the format; Julie is a large part of the new speaking engagements.

Julie Norman, Zig Ziglar’s daughter, interviewing him on stage

Julie describes her new part in Zig Ziglar's speaking engagements this way: "Most recently, since his fall, I have been interviewing Dad on the platform because he is not able to do the kind of speaking he did before he had the memory loss. My job is to help him stay on track with the information he wants his audience to have. I have been his editor for so long, I know pretty much how all of the stories go; and if he should forget the punch line, I can provide it."

"I never had any desire whatsoever to be in front of the public. Being an editor is pretty quiet and in the background. I don't even work in the company office. I have everything I need to work at home and go to the office only when necessary. God started preparing me for working with Daddy in this new role some time ago to the point that I sold two of my horses. I traditionally keep my animals until they die."

"When Dad fell down the stairs, I knew that I would be spending more time with him and Momma. Then my brother asked me if I would travel with Dad and do the interviews. I didn't give a second thought to getting up in front of 20,000 people because it wasn't about me being up in front of 20,000 people. It was about doing what Daddy needed. I am not nervous when interviewing him on stage because mentally I am not in front of a crowd. I am in the living room with Daddy."

"It is really interesting the way we have been put into a position where he can be such an inspiration in his weakness or his frailty," says Julie. "He is showing people that, when you believe the things he has always taught like, 'it's not your circumstances but how you respond to them that makes the difference' and 'yesterday ended last night and today is a brand new day' and 'failure is an event - not a person', you don't just give up. All of these things really tie into him embracing this struggle he is in."

"To have the privilege of helping him onstage is overwhelming. I wish you could see what happens in the audience when we tell them that he had a fall and that he has had memory loss. But he is willing to be transparent and to write and speak because he wants to show them that there is no shame in living life on life's terms. They just jump to their feet and give him a standing ovation. Then we talk about the changes and about doing what is next to make the best out of what you received."

Mr. Ziglar puts it like this: "Most of them are amazed. I don't think they would have known anything about it had we not chosen to reveal what happened." His wife Jean, who also travels with him now, says:" He's got it all in his head. This is just a different way to get the information out."

Over the horizon

"Go as far as you can see and then you will be able to see a little farther."( Zig Ziglar)

Just as Zig Ziglar and his wife Jean were there for "Little One" as she was growing up and going through her various trials and tribulations, now she is there for Daddy and Momma as he recovers from the effects of his injury. The love and respect that these two have for each other transcends the father-daughter relationship.

"Julie is my daughter, and I love her in that respect. Now, she is the one who edits all of my books and travels with me to interview me in my speaking engagements," states Mr. Ziglar.

Their respect for each other is such that the changes in their relationship have served only to deepen the love that they have had for each other and the bond that has defined the Ziglar family through triumph and tragedy over the years. To tell the story of one Ziglar inevitably involves the stories of them all. They have gone as far as they can see and now they can see a little farther, so they keep looking ahead to what God has in store for them.