W. Clement Stone

William Clement Stone (May 4, 1902 – September 3, 2002) was a businessman, philanthropist and New Thought self-help book author. 2Biography He was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 4, 1902. His father died in 1905 leaving his family in debt. In 1908 he hawked newspapers on the South Side of Chicago while his mother worked as a dressmaker. By 1915 he owned his own newsstand. In 1918 he moved to Detroit to sell casualty insurance for his mother. Stone dropped out of high school to sell insurance full-time. He received a diploma from the YMCA Central High School in Chicago. He took courses at Detroit College of Law and Northwestern University. Much of what is known about Stone comes from his autobiography The Success System That Never Fail