Tom Clancy Passes Away at 66

Tom Clancy's Command Authority

Bestselling author Tom Clancy passed away Tuesday, October 1, 2013 in a Baltimore hospital. The cause of Clancy’s death has not yet been disclosed. The author was 66.

Multiple sources, including Publishers Weekly and the New York Times, broke the news via Twitter.

Clancy introduced the world to Jack Ryan with 1984’s The Hunt for Red October. That novel was followed by Ryan books including Patriot Games (1987), The Cardinal in the Kremlin (1988), Clear and Present Danger (1989), The Sum of All Fears (1991), Debt of Honor (1994), Executive Orders (1996), The Bear and the Dragon (2000), and Red Rabbit (2002). A new Ryan book, Command Authority, is due out in early December.

Clancy was born on April 12, 1947 in Baltimore, Maryland. Due to issues with his eyesight, Clancy was unable to follow his childhood dream of entering the military and instead pursued writing. He attended Loyola College and majored in English, and while working as an insurance broker, he sold his first book (The Hunt for Red October) to the Naval Institute Press for $5,000.