7 Habits' author Stephen R. Covey home from hospital after bike crash

Stephen R. Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and other motivational books, is home after a month in the hospital due to a bicycle accident.

"He's been home now for about a week and he continues to improve," said Covey's spokeswoman, Debra Lund, on Friday. "I think it's just been a great thing to have him home with the family. He continues to gain strength."

Lund said the 79-year-old Covey is also undergoing physical therapy but she does not know details of Covey's health or recovery.

Covey does not have any speeches or public appearances planned, though Lund said he had reduced his schedule even before his bicycle crash.

On April 19, Covey flipped on his bicycle in Red Canyon Park in Provo. Covey was wearing a helmet, but still received a head injury that caused a small amount of bleeding on the frontal lobe of his brain, his daughter, Catherine Sagers said a day after the crash. Covey also suffered cracked ribs and a partially collapsed lung, she said.

Covey spent more than a month at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo.

Lund said Covey received get well messages from all over the world. "He was so grateful to know that people were praying for him and wishing him well," she said.

Covey was a Brigham Young University business management professor when he became a household name with the publication in 1989 of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

The book made him highly successful, selling more than 10 million copies with editions in 40 countries in 28 languages. More books followed.

He became a management guru for companies and agencies such as Saturn, Ritz Carlton, Proctor and Gamble, Sears Roebuck and Co., NASA, Black & Decker, Public Broadcasting Service, Amway, American Cancer Society and the Internal Revenue Service.

ncarlisle@sltrib.com

Twitter: @natecarlisle