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Hyrum W. Smith, Utah entrepreneur who created the Franklin Planner, dies at 76

Hyrum W. Smith, the Utah entrepreneur who created the Franklin Planner and made it a businessperson’s must-carry item, has died. He was 76.

Smith died Monday in Gunlock, Utah, from cancer, according to an announcement Friday by FranklinCovey Co., the company he co-founded.

“The world lost a truly great and remarkable human being in Hyrum,” FranklinCovey CEO Bob Whitman said in the statement. “He truly achieved his ‘deeply held desire to make a positive difference on this planet.’”

Smith developed the Franklin Planner in his basement, using loose-leaf pages to organize appointments, tasks and notes — based on a time-management system Smith also developed.