A sad loss today, as Tom Clancy, author of THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, PATRIOT GAMES, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, THE SUM OF ALL FEARS, and many, many more, has died at age 66 in Baltimore. Clancy created the CIA analyst character Jack Ryan, who is featured in a majority of his novels and all of the film adaptations. Jack Ryan will most recently be played by Chris Pine in a reboot of the franchise directed by Kenneth Branagh. The Baltimore, Maryland native, Clancy’s first published novel was THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, which was later adapted for the big screen in 1990. This catapulted Clancy into the mainstream where his work continued to flourish, becoming THE name in military accuracy and continuing the movie franchise with PATRIOT GAMES, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, THE SUM OF ALL FEARS, and JACK RYAN this December. Another popular character of Clancy’s is John Clark, who is featured in the novels and films alongside Ryan.
In addition, Clancy co-founded the video game developer Red Storm Entertainment, which was later bought by Ubisoft, creating a massive library of videogame franchises, including Spllinter Cell, Rainbow Six, and Ghost Recon, which continue to be released today. Clancy also created the Op-Center and Netforce series (as well as the YA Netforce Explorers series).
Clancy has left behind a legacy that continues to thrive with his characters living on in books, television, film, and videogames. His last novel, another in the Jack Ryan series, called “Command Authority” is set for release on December 3, 2013. JACK RYAN, the latest film adaptation of the popular character is set for release on December 25, 2013.