George S. Clason (1874-1957) A soldier, businessman, and a writer, George Samuel Clason was born in Louisiana, Missouri, in 1874. He attended the University of Nebraska, and later served in the United States Army during the Spanish American War (1898). Clason went on to start two companies: the Clason Map Company of Denver, Colorado, and the Clason Publishing Company. Interestingly, the Clason Map Company was the first to publish a road atlas, detailing the network of routes across the United States and Canada. However, when the Great Depression arrived, the company did not survive the ordeal. George Clason is best known for writing pamphlets and books on being thrifty and how to accomplish success in finances. In 1926, he began writing pamphlets on achieving financial abundance. Towards this end, he made use of parables that were set in ancient Babylon. The most significant of these were compiled into the book The Richest Man in Babylon, which remains a classic to this day when it comes to the subject of personal finance. Clason passed away in Napa, California, and was buried in San Mateo County, in California.