Thomas Leo Clancy

Tom Clancy, best-selling author of military thrillers and espionage novels, passed away Tuesday October 1 at the age of 66.
 

Mr. Clancy is best known for “The Hunt for Red October” and “Patriot Games,” although his literary career has created a lasting legacy of novels, movies and even video games enabling the average American to live vicariously the adrenaline-filled life of a spy, or the strategic genius of a military hero. Clancy’s publisher has said that he had an “innate storytelling ability, and his characters had this very witty dialogue” - characteristics that have defined his successful 31-year literary career.
 

Not only did Clancy create compelling stories that draw readers into the enthralling technical details; his novels mirror the changes taking place in American foreign policy throughout his writing career. The storylines in his books reflect an early obsession with a country on the brink of the Cold War, and as the world has changed over the past three decades, his books have come to focus more on terrorist threats in the Middle East.
 

His stories were so compelling that they spawned four big- screen adventures, with a fifth to open in theaters this December. Clancy’s stories also formed the basis for the popular “Splinter Cell” video games.
 

In his personal life, Mr. Clancy has been married twice, and is survived by wife Alexandra Marie Llewellyn, and four children from his previous marriage; Michelle Bandy, Christine Blocksidge, Kathleen Clancy and Thomas Clancy III. He was well-known for his conservative and Republican views, and was a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association since 1978.