'7 Habits Of Highly Effective People' Author Stephen Covey Dead At 79

A man whose bestselling books helped millions live saner, more streamlined lives, self-help author and motivational speaker Stephen Covey has died at age 79, the Associated Press and NBC's "Today" reported Monday.

Up until his death, Covey had endured lingering effects that followed an April 19 Provo, Utah bicycle accident. The accident knocked him unconscious and caused bleeding in his brain. He died around 2:15 A.M. surrounded by his wife, all nine children and their respective spouses at Idaho Falls' Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.

"We extend our heartfelt gratitude for all of the love and prayers that have been showered upon Stephen and our family from all around the globe over the past several months," his family said in a joint statement.

A Brigham Young University business management professor even after launching his writing career, his 1989 self-help guide "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" has since sold 25 million copies worldwide. His three subsequent volumes extolling logical but faith-based perspectives on life, love, work and money each sold more than 1 million copies as well.

Covey built his success into a long tenure as a motivational speaker who advised successful organizations from Black & Decker, to NASA and the Internal Revenue Service. The Covey Leadership Center that he founded merged in 1997 with Franklin Quest in 1997 and became FranklinCovey Co., which sold books, tapes and videos training others in Covey's celebrated business strategies.

Last year, Covey had published "The 3rd Alternative: Solving Life's Most Difficult Problems" after becoming a professor in 2010 at Utah State's Jon M. Huntsman School of Business.