Rest in peace. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/author-tom-clancy-dead-66-article-1.1473782
Very sad to hear. Not very old at all. I loved the movies based on his books. Hunt For Red October, Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games, Sum of All Fears, etc. I tried reading his books but I always got bogged down in the minute details that he wrote about the business. I think that's why I loved the movies. They simplified a lot of what he wrote, but the man was a great storyteller.
That's actually a good point. Not only did he change the book and movie world, but the guy was hugely instrumental in the first person shooter arena. Some of the best shooters spawned from Tom Clancy books and ideas. Ghost Recon Rainbow Six. Splinter Cell.
Patriot Games, my goodness, Harrison Ford, Samuel L Jackson, James Earl Jones, and Sean Bean? So good.
I loved the Clancy books, until they started being ghost-written for him in the last 10 years or so. Bear and the Dragon was probably the last "Clancy" book. I geeked out over the details, and loved how stuff came together. It's sad, because just today Amazon popped up an ad for me that said that "Clancy's" newest Jack Ryan book was ready for pre-order. I've skimmed a couple of the new Jack Ryan series, thought they were mildly entertaining, but earlier was thinking "yeah, it's not a REAL Clancy, so I'll just wait until I can check it out from the library." RIP
BTW, the Alec Baldwin Ryan was the closest to what the Clancy Jack Ryan should be on screen. He's not a swashbuckling Indiana Jones/Han Solo or (Heaven forbid) Ben Affleck. He's an analyst who had enough Marine Corps training to be effective under fire--he didn't go seek it out.
The fear of flying thing was great. What I loved about Clancy's criticism of the casting was he thought Alec Baldwin was "too handsome". Jack Ryan was always thought of by the naysayers as too good to be true. He had all kinds of flaws, but you had to read Clancy to see them. The same with Clark and Chavez. "The Bear & The Dragon" was great, but to this day, my favorite is "Red Storm Rising". As BFWA mentioned, it was the attention to detail that differentiated him from other authors of the genre. Man, losing Vince Flynn and Tom Clancy in the same year means two weeks of my year are now open. I'll get more sleep, but the world is a poorer place.
To all of us that not only enjoy, but rather have to turn the pages and indulge the loss of this guy is going to be noticed. I have over the years used his stuff to entertain, he has been one of the stable of writers that regardless of title, I know will be a relaxing escape.
