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Tom Clancy, Best-Selling Novelist of Military Thrillers, Dies at 66
Tom Clancy, whose complex, adrenaline-fueled military novels spawned a new genre of thrillers and 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.â€
His next book, “Command Authority,†is planned for publication on Dec. 3.
Mr. Clancy was an insurance salesman when he sold his first novel, “The Hunt for Red October,†to the Naval Institute Press for only $5,000. That publisher had never released a novel before, but the editors were taken with Mr. Clancy’s manuscript. They were concerned, however, that there were too many technical descriptions, so they asked him to make cuts. Mr. Clancy made revisions and cut at least 100 pages. The book took off when President Ronald Reagan, who had received a copy, called it “my kind of yarn†and said that he couldn’t put it down.
After the book’s publication in 1985, Mr. Clancy was praised for his mastery of technical details about Soviet submarines and weaponry. Even high-ranking members of the military took notice of the book’s apparent inside knowledge.
NYT Story link]http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/books/tom-clancy-best-selling-novelist-of-military-thrillers-dies-at-66.html?_r=0[/url]
Tom Clancy, whose complex, adrenaline-fueled military novels spawned a new genre of thrillers and 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.â€
His next book, “Command Authority,†is planned for publication on Dec. 3.
Mr. Clancy was an insurance salesman when he sold his first novel, “The Hunt for Red October,†to the Naval Institute Press for only $5,000. That publisher had never released a novel before, but the editors were taken with Mr. Clancy’s manuscript. They were concerned, however, that there were too many technical descriptions, so they asked him to make cuts. Mr. Clancy made revisions and cut at least 100 pages. The book took off when President Ronald Reagan, who had received a copy, called it “my kind of yarn†and said that he couldn’t put it down.
After the book’s publication in 1985, Mr. Clancy was praised for his mastery of technical details about Soviet submarines and weaponry. Even high-ranking members of the military took notice of the book’s apparent inside knowledge.
NYT Story link]http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/books/tom-clancy-best-selling-novelist-of-military-thrillers-dies-at-66.html?_r=0[/url]