The man did not look like a salesman. He was short, pudgy, a rather sleepy-looking individual. He did not sound like a salesman. He had a lisp, talked almost in a whisper, often he said nothing. He did not act like a salesman; he was not flamboyant, not the life of the party; in fact, he was so shy that once he insisted on staying behind a screen in making a presentation to other salespersons. Nonetheless, when Ben Feldman died in 1993 at the age of 81 he was acknowledged as the world's greatest life insurance salesman. Born of Russian Jewish immigrants, he lived in East Liverpool, Ohio. Without customarily traveling more than 60 miles from his home he sold more life insurance than anyone else. He sold policies with an estimated face value of about $1.5 billion in his lifetime.

With all the…