Bestselling author Tom Clancy dead at 66

The author of The Hunt for Red October and Clear and Present danger, has died in Baltimore, Maryland. He was 66.

09:03 03 October 2013

Tom Clancy, the bestselling author who sold circa 50 million books over his three-decade writing career, has died at the age of 66.

The Penguin Group, Mr Clancy’s publisher, has confirmed the news but did not disclose the cause of death. He died at a hospital in Baltimore. 

Some of his famous novels include The Hunt for Red October where he created the character of a CIA analyst turned US president, Jack Ryan.

This famous character will appear in cinemas in December in the hotly tipped Jack Ryan: Shadow One, which stars Chris Pine as the titular super-spy. The movie is directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh. The character was previously portrayed on screen by Ben Affleck, Harrison Ford, and Alec Baldwin.

Clancy authored a total of 28 books and 17 of them topped the New York Times bestseller list.  He co-founded Red Storm Entertainment, a games company, in 1996. The company, which was later on bought by Ubisoft, released several popular titles that were based on Clancy’s concepts, which include Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, and Rainbow Six.

As well as his critical praise, Clancy was a literature power player as well. He was included in the Forbes Celebrity 100 lists in 2002 with annual earnings of £29.5m.