- "Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change around you, but your dream will not. Your life may change, but your dream doesn’t have to. Responsibilities need not erase it. Duties need not obscure it. Your spouse and children need not get in its way, because the dream is within you. No one can take your dream away."
— Tom Clancy, Commencement Address, Loyola College, 1986
Thomas Leo Clancy Jr., better known as Tom Clancy was an American novelist responsible for a number of best-selling political and technical thriller novels, starring some of his most prolific characters including Jack Ryan, Sr.. Well known for crafting narratives regarding contemporary military, espionage, and political fiction with exceptional detail focused into military technology, political science, and foreign policy.
His name has developed into a world-recognized brand, with the penning of subsequent novels by ghost writers and a series of nonfiction books on military subjects and autobiographies on world leaders. His brand has extended beyond his initial novel-penning to include video games, board games, blockbuster films, and television shows. Outside his writing career, Clancy was a part-time owner of the Baltimore Orioles, a Major League Baseball Team and has served as the sport team's vice-chairman of community activities and public affairs.
Biography[]
Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. was born in Calvert County, Maryland, United States of America. He attended Loyola Blakefield in Towson, Maryland, graduating with the class of 1965. He went on to study English Literature at Loyola College in Baltimore, graduating with the class of 1969.[1] Though he wanted to serve in the United States military, he was rejected after failing a required eye exam in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Before making his literary debut, he spent some time running an independent insurance agency.
Clancy married his first wife, Wanda, in 1970. After having four children together, they divorced in 1998. Wanda's divorce papers (filed in 1996) claimed that Clancy had "committed adultery with Katherine Huang" a New York assistant district attorney he met online.[2]
In 1996, Clancy co-founded the game developer Red Storm Entertainment and ever since he has had his name on several of Red Storm's most successful games. Red Storm was later bought by publisher Ubisoft, which continues to use the Clancy name.
On 26 June 1999, Clancy, at age 52, married freelance journalist Alexandra Marie Llewellyn, who at 32 years of age was 21 years his junior.[3]
In 2008, Clancy's name was purchased by Ubisoft for an undisclosed sum for the use in conjunction with video games and related products such as movies and books. [1]
He died on October 1, 2013, aged 66.
Political views[]
Clancy has generally been regarded as a political conservative, and has donated over US$256,000 to Republican Party political candidates.[4]
After 9/11, Clancy was an early and, to many, surprising defender of Islam. He was interviewed on NBC later that day. Clancy has also associated himself with General Anthony Zinni, a critic of the Iraq War and the George W. Bush administration, and has been critical of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.[5] He was categorized as a northern paleoconservative.[6]
Some of his books bear dedications to Republican political figures, most notably Ronald Reagan. In his novels countries portrayed as hostile to the USA include the former Soviet Union, China, India, Iran and Japan while Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Kingdom are shown as close allies of the USA.
Bibliography[]
The website IMDB reports that Tom Clancy's novel Without Remorse is to be made into a movie and is expected to be released in 2008. Filming is to commence in 2008. No other details were available as of 27 June 2007.
With the release of The Teeth of the Tiger, Clancy introduced Jack Ryan's son and two nephews as main characters. However, Jack Ryan returns in subsequent novels Dead or Alive, Locked On, and Threat Vector.
Clancy has written several nonfiction books about various branches of the U.S. armed forces.
These are sometimes referred to by fans as "apostrophe" books; In 1997, Clancy signed a book deal with Penguin Putnam Inc. (both part of Pearson Education), that paid him US$50 million for the world-English rights to two new books. He then signed a second agreement for another US$25 million for a four-year book/multimedia deal. Clancy followed this up with an agreement with Berkley Books for 24 paperbacks to tie in with the television miniseries NetForce aired in the fall/winter of 1998. The Op-Center universe has laid the ground for the series of books written by Jeff Rovin, which was in an agreement worth US $22 million bringing the total value of the package to US$97 million.
All but two of Clancy's novels feature Jack Ryan or John Clark.
Novels[]
Jack Ryan Series[]
- Without Remorse (1993)
- Patriot Games (1987)
- Red Rabbit (2002)
- The Hunt for Red October (1984)
- The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988)
- Clear and Present Danger (1989)
- The Sum of All Fears (1991)
- Debt of Honor (1994)
- Ghost Recon (1996)
- Rainbow Six (1998)
- The Bear and the Dragon (2000)
- Red Rabbit (2002)
- The Teeth of the Tiger (2003)
- Dead or Alive (2010, with Grant Blackwood)
- Against All Enemies (2011, with Peter Telep)
- Locked On (2011, with Mark Greaney)
- Threat Vector (2012, with Mark Greaney)
- Command Authority (2013, with Mark Greaney)
Other Novels[]
- Red Storm Rising (1986)
- SSN (1996)
Non-fiction[]
Guided Tours[]
- Submarine: A Guided Tour Inside a Nuclear Warship (1993)
- Armored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment (1994)
- Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing (1995)
- Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (1996)
- Airborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task Force (1997)
- Carrier|Carrier: A Guided Tour of an Aircraft Carrier (1999)
- Special Forces|Special Forces: A Guided Tour of U.S. Army Special Forces (2001)
Studies in Command[]
- Into the Storm - On the Ground in Iraq]] (with Fred Franks) (1997)
- Every Man a Tiger|Every Man a Tiger - the Gulf War Air Campaign (with Chuck Horner) (1999)
- Shadow Warriors - Inside the Special Forces (with Carl Stiner) (2002)
- Battle Ready (with Anthony Zinni) (2004)
Other Non-Fiction[]
- The Tom Clancy Companio] - Edited by Martin E. Greenberg - Writings by Tom Clancy along with a concordance of all his fiction novels, detailing characters and military units or equipment.
Publication Vs. Storyline Order[]
Clancy published sixteen novels within the Ryanverse. Below is a chart that compares the released order to the storyline order.
Trivia[]
- In March of 2008, Tom Clancy's home in Calvert County, Maryland had unfortunately caught fire causing roughly $20,000 in damages. Clancy, along with his family, had been home at the time but nobody had been injured.[7]
- The BBC Radio 4 sitcom Deep Trouble, set on a nuclear submarine, features a humorous version of Clancy as a recurring character. He is portrayed by Ben Willbond, co-writer of the series.
- August 22 2014,Two young boys were charged with arson for allegedly setting a fire that destroyed an unoccupied home on the Calvert County estate of the late novelist Tom Clancy.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal said Friday that the boys, who are 12 and 14 and from the Dares Beach community in Calvert County, confessed to igniting combustibles in the living room of the two-story, unoccupied wood frame house on the evening of Aug. 22. The fire was reported to 911 by a boater in the Chesapeake bay who saw a large column of smoke on land, Fire department responded, after a long search of the heavily wooded community they discovered it was on Clancy's property.The fire was brought under control within 15 minutes of the arrival of firefighters, but the house was already destroyed.
Sources[]
- ↑ alt.books.tom-clancy post by Tom Clancy
- ↑ Tom Clancy's and Wanda Clancy's Relationship Details on Famous Hookups.com
- ↑ "Alexandra Llewellyn, Tom Clancy," The New York Times, June 27 1999.
- ↑ Tom Clancy - Political Donations at newsmeat.com
- ↑ Paperback Writer, The New Republic, 25 May 2004
- ↑ The Social Contract - Profiling In an Age of Terrorism
- ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/03/29/clancy.fire/index.html