Og Mandino

Augustine “Og” Mandino II was born on December 12, 1923, and was named after his paternal grandfather.

As a teenager, he was the editor of his high school newspaper and planned to attend the University of Missouri for journalism.

However, in the summer of 1940, just before he started college, his mother died suddenly of a heart attack while preparing his lunch in the kitchen.

After this tragedy, Mandino decided to work in a paper mill until 1942, when he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps.

He became a military officer and piloted a B-24 Liberator bomber, participating in 30 combat missions over Germany during World War II.

During this period, he flew alongside his comrade-in-arms, the famous pilot and movie star James Stewart.

Mandino kept an autographed 8×10 photo of Stewart for his entire life, which he displayed on the wall of his home office where he later wrote all of his successful books.

After completing his military service, Mandino discovered that very few companies were hiring former bomber pilots.

As a result, he took a job as an insurance salesman. Wandering the streets and wasting his nights in bars, he became addicted to alcohol and was unable to hold down a job.

Because of this, his first wife and their child left him.

On a cold November morning in Cleveland, on the verge of despair, he came close to taking his own life.

Instead, he chose to enter a local library. While browsing the volumes on the shelves, his attention was drawn to books on personal development, motivation, and success.

He selected a few titles and began reading. From that moment on, Mandino began visiting numerous libraries across the United States, reading hundreds of books on the subject, a preoccupation that gradually helped him overcome his alcoholism.

At a library in Concord, New Hampshire, he discovered W. Clement Stone’s classic, “Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude ,” a work that forever changed his destiny.

Og Mandino later became a highly successful writer and speaker, whose works were deeply inspired by Napoleon Hill, W. Clement Stone, and Emmet Fox.

For his outstanding achievements, he was inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame of the National Speakers Association.

Og Mandino: National Speakers Association – Hall of Fame (nsaspeaker.org) and his autobiographical landmarks.