While he might have been best known for his high-tension military and political fiction, Tom Clancy’s work had a sizeable impact on the movie world. He has died at the age of 66.
For a man whose literary career spanned years and more than $50 million sales, the Baltimore native got his start in a very different industry. He was an insurance salesman before he turned a passion for researching American military history into the first of his bestsellers, The Hunt For Red October, which hit bookshelves in 1984.
The book introduced Clancy’s signature hero, CIA agent Jack Ryan, whose adventures would span several titles, including Patriot Games, Clear And Present Danger and The Sum Of All Fears. All of those three ended up on the big screen, with the likes of Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin and Ben Affleck starring as Ryan. We’re close to seeing Chris Pine’s interpretation of the character in Jack Ryan, which will be out on December 26.
But Ryan wasn’t Clancy’s only creation. He also wrote such books as Red Storm Rising, Without Remorse, Debt Of Honour, Executive Orders and Rainbow Six. Several of his stories have been turned into video games. In the non-fiction world, he co-authored several books about real-life American military campaigns.
Clancy’s latest, and now last, novel, Jack Ryan adventure Command Authority, will be published in December.