Tom Clancy, Best-Selling Novelist of Military Thrillers, Dies at 66

[onehandle]

Last edited Wed Oct 2, 2013, 11:17 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: New York Times



Tom Clancy, whose complex, adrenaline-fueled military novels made him one of the world’s best-selling and best-known authors, died on Tuesday in a hospital in Baltimore. He was 66.

Ivan Held, the president of G. P. Putnam’s Sons, his publisher, did not provide a cause of death.

Mr. Clancy’s books were successfully transformed into blockbuster Hollywood films, including “Patriot Games,” “The Hunt for Red October” and “Clear and Present Danger.”

His next book, “Command Authority,” is planned for publication on Dec. 3.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/books/tom-clancy-best-selling-novelist-of-military-thrillers-dies-at-66.html

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Just got my NYT alert (found a Baltimore paper source too)

Wow.

Edit to add a Baltimore newspaper source - http://www.baltimorenewsjournal.com/2013/10/02/author-tom-clancy-dies-in-baltimore-hospital/

R.I.P.

[Sherman A1]

2. Wow

I liked his first couple of books, but lost interest in his stuff as time went on. Seems pretty young to go.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. News link for you

NY Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/author-tom-clancy-dead-66-article-1.1473782

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. Wow, he was young.

His books have been thrilling people for years.

RIP

[csziggy]

7. Far too young

Condolences to his family

[Old and In the Way]

5. Red Storm Rising....

was one of my favorite book reads of all time. Given the time it was written in, certainly a plausible scenario of how WW3 could have started.

[neverforget]

28. That is one of my favorite books too. I've read it a couple times and want to read

it again. There aren't too many that I want to read again but Red Storm Rising is one of them.

[Doctor_J]

33. That one was excellent

His books made into good films too.

[Old and In the Way]

35. Really don't know why that wasn't made into a movie.

It would certainly be dated now as the SU no longer exists and the technology showcased is last generation...but still, the scope/complexity of the storyline would make an excellent big screen adaption.

[marble falls]

6. The only thing I can find is that he died in hospital in Baltimore yesterday.

[OmahaBlueDog]

8. I loved "The Hunt for Red October"

..and I enjoyed many of his other books. His non-fiction works (especially his interview with General Franks) after Gulf War I are also worth reading. He'll be missed.

I seem to recall that he was shunned in some circles after indicating during the 2004 election that we did not have a good cause to invade Iraq.

[onehandle]

11. One of the best films ever. nt

[krispos42]

18. I probably watched it fifty times

I still watch it when I come across it on cable.


"They have to WANT to get off. How do you get a crew to want to get off a sub? How do you get a crew to WANT to get off a nuclear-".


(Paraphrasing)

[onehandle]

19. It's my wife's favorite.

I bought it HD on iTunes for eight bucks and she watches it at least twice a month, on one of her devices or on our Apple TV.

'Captain's scared them out of the water!'

[krispos42]

24. This one, and "Clear and Present Danger"

are both great movies that I watch whenever they're on.

[Posteritatis]

22. One of those rare cases where the book and movie are both rock solid. (nt)

[davidpdx]

9. I wasn't in to his novels, but it is a shame to see a great author go

He was still relatively young. My condolences to the Clancy family.

[littlewolf]

10. Loved his work, so sorry to see a great writer died so young. eom

[niyad]

12. requiescat in pacem, mr. clancy

[awoke_in_2003]

13. I must admit he was a guilty pleasure of mine...

after Executive Orders, though, it seemed someone else was doing the writing.

[SwankyXomb]

20. There have been allegations

that he was using a ghost writer for the last several books.

[awoke_in_2003]

26. I would believe it...

something seemed different- the normally slow multiple subthreads building up and all falling together at the end wasn't the same. It could have been a change in my personality too- I used to be more militant. As I have gotten older, I have realized what a waste of life and resources the MIC inflicts on this country. Welcome to DU.

[Duval]

14. RIP, Tom Clancy.

We enjoyed many of his books.

[Buddha_of_Wisdom]

15. That is the second thriller writer we lost this year.

The other being Vince Flynn who died of cancer.

[MicaelS]

16. Utterly shocked, and saddened.

His early works, especially Hunt for Red October, and Red Storm Rising were brilliant. I have read them many times. His later works were not so good, but as far as I am concerned, he created the genre of techo-thriller. How many authors can have said to single handedly created an entire genre, and inspired numerous imitators?

[Skarbrowe]

17. I also enjoyed his books..but

the last one of his later books I picked up at Costco had his name and another person's on it. It seems like a lot of big name authors have been doing this for quite some time. It didn't read like Clancy at all. It was just a diatribe against the center to left and how they have destroyed everything and kicked his puppy. I don't even remember if it was a decent thriller. I've always known he was a conservative. Actually, I thought he was one of the old time conservatives from about 30 to 40 years ago. When I read his books, the only thing I had to gloss over a little bit was all of the technical jargon he used. I loved it, just didn't understand all of it. Like I said, the last book I bought, oh, sometime in the last two years, was obviously written by the other author with maybe a little input from Tom Clancy just to sell the book. I wasn't going to read anymore Clancy novels. Now, I definitely won't. And, yes. Sixty-six is too young. I'm getting close to that myself.

[Posteritatis]

23. Anything with "Tom Clancy's" on the cover instead of "Tom Clancy" wasn't written by him

Those were all just banking on the name, and it's pretty likely that even some of the last few which formally had his name were ghost-written.

Actually, it's usually a safe bet that whenever a book's got a big name author and a lesser-known one as a co-author, it's the latter using the former's name to have fun with their personal soapbox.

[Tom Ripley]

21. He will be buried with full quasi-military honors

[Bigmack]

25. OK... I haven't had my ass handed to me lately...

... so here goes.

I have always found the "big picture" military books to be a glorification of war.

Clancy's certainly fit that description. Very little grunts fighting it out in the mud, and a lot of Majors and Colonels flying hi-tech toys.

Maybe it's my (Grunt) perspective, but I always thought of his books as paper video games.

He was a great writer of books that people who never fired a shot themselves could feel the "thrill" of combat.

Having said all that... I certainly feel his passing.

Us old farts have to stick together, and the loss of one of us is a loss to all of us.

[Adam-Bomb]

27. I know what you mean

LOVED Tom Clancy but my favorite novelist for the "bayonet level" was Harold Coyle,
whose book "Team Yankee" could have been about my Mech Infantry unit in Germany
back in the 80's.

Sad as hell to hear about Tom's passing.....his works have entertained me for years.

[DiverDave]

29. I feel sorry for his family, but he was a warmonger

and a cheerleader for a bloated military.

[Tom Ripley]

34. +1000

armchair warlord

[rppper]

30. His books were one of the reasons....

...I volunteered for submarine duty....I enjoyed his earlier works. I was part of a discussion yesterday on one of my facebook subvets pages. There were a lot of stories about his general attitude towards the enlisted he met during his VIP rides on subs....the general concensus was that he was a "dick"....again these are not my words, I've never met the man....but I heard the same stories while I was serving as well. He was quoted as saying the easiest way to get info for his books was to find sailors in submarine themed bars and get them loaded.....eh....whatever the case, RIP Tom and condolences to his family....

[truthisfreedom]

31. And nobody will ever know why he died at 66?

Seriously?

[Tom Ripley]

36. I look forward to reading the full technical specs for the earth-moving machinery...

used in his internment.