Farewell to my friend Charlie “Tremendous” Jones
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The field of personal development and lost one of our true greats last week, with the passing of my friend, Charlie “Tremendous” Jones on October 16th.
He was, in my opinion, a truly amazing man who contributed greatly to the betterment of humanity and he will be missed by anyone who had the pleasure to know him.
Several years ago, I had the distinct pleasure of spending an evening with Charlie, near his home in Mechanicsburg, PA. At the time, his company, Executive Books, had sold a significant number of copies of my book, This is Your life, Not a Dress Rehearsal and, during a phone call, I mentioned it would be great to meet him “some day.”
He responded by inviting me to come out there to have dinner with him the following week. After talking over dinner for a while, he invited me to come back to his home with him where I was to spend a remarkable evening with an even more remarkable man.
Once I had seen his vast collection of books, some of which dated back to Revolutionary times and many signed first editions of self-help classics, we walked around his property. Charlie dedicated his life to, in his words, “Changing the world, one book at a time,” and his collection of books would have filled a small library.
On his country property is part of a carnival and a building that is decorated for Christmas all year round. As we sat, singing Christmas Carols in July, he explained the reason for the decorations. On weekends he would invite children from the orphanage in nearby Reading, Pa. to come and spend time there.
When I asked why, he replied, “So that they will remember that there was one day in their life that someone loved them.” That, in my opinion, is the essence of Charlie Tremendous Jones. He was a man whose heart was bigger than even his towering stature and I, for one, will miss him.
As the hour started to become late, this amazing man, at the time near 80 years of age, said to me, “I’d love to keep taking, Jim, but it’s getting late and I have to fly to Romania tomorrow to give a seminar.”
His selfless dedication to his life’s purpose and the magnificant contribution he made to the world is why I am honored to call Charles Edward Jones my friend. May he rest in peace.
Information about his Homecoming Celebration and ongoing details can be found here.
Tags: Charles Edward Jones, Charlie Tremendous, charlie tremendous jones, executive books, mechanicsburg pa, reading paPosted in
