Acclaimed Author Tom Clancy Dies At 66

Image Credit: Tom Clancy’s Facebook Fan Page

Tom Clancy, the author best known for authoring political thrillers like The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games, died yesterday at the age of 66 in Baltimore. In a post by his publishing company on The Penguin Blog, Chief Executive of Penguin Random House UK Tom Weldon said, “Tom Clancy changed readers’ expectations of what a thriller could do. He was a master of his craft and it was our privilege to work with him. He will be greatly missed by millions of fans in the UK and around the world.”

I discovered the news via Twitter and was immediately shocked. Tom Clancy’s name has become even more famous through video games produced by his company Red Storm Entertainment, and later Ubisoft, who bought the rights to use his name about five years ago. Titles like Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier have been released in the last year and a half, and Tom Clancy’s The Division is scheduled to come out some time next year. Expect a look soon on my other blog, Gurwin’s Wordin’, where I’ll examine how the Tom Clancy games have shaped the video game landscape. His son Thom Clancy is currently a game development student, himself.

Mr. Clancy’s books were also turned into extremely successful films, and a reboot of the Jack Ryan series starring Chris Pine is scheduled to arrive this Christmas. Clancy’s final book, Command Authority, was co-authored with Mark Greaney and arrives December 3rd.

What’s your fondest memory of Tom Clancy? Did you play the games, read the books or watch the movies? Let us know!