Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Tom Clancy

"Writing isn't divinely inspired, it's hard work."
~ Tom Clancy

Tom Clancy, a superstar in the book world, died last week at age sixty-six. He referred to his mega success as just dumb luck. It's an amazingly humble statement for someone who fathered a genre and was considered one of the best author's of his time.
His passion for military history began early. Instead of reading children's books, he went straight to books on engineering and the military.
Tom Clancy started out as an insurance salesman, who wrote on the side. When the Naval Institute Press purchased The Hunt For Red October for $5,000.00 his meteoric rise in the publishing world began. It was nudged along by Ronald Reagan who loved the book and
referred to it as 'my kind of yarn'. He was so techno savvy that even the military wondered where he got his information.
He ended up with seventeen best sellers and over 100 million book copies in print.
Mr. Clancy was part owner of the Baltimore Orioles.
 

8 comments:

CJ Kennedy said...

Was sad to hear Clancy had passed. But his work lives on.

Sandra Cox said...

I was too, CJ. And you're right. He left quite a literary legacy.

DEZMOND said...

I've never read any of his novels, but I know he was extremely popular in USA. He was translated in my country too

Pat Hatt said...

He was quite the author indeed. Like to have his dumb luck

Sandra Cox said...

Hey Dez,
He was amazing. His books were a little to techy for me, but Reagan was right. 'He told a good yarn.'

Sandra Cox said...

I'm with ya, Pat. I'd settle for a smidgeon of that luck.

Julia Barrett said...

Learn something new everyday. I like his books, but I knew nothing of his background.

Sandra Cox said...

Hi Julia, I'm impressed with his background. He just comes across as a nice guy who got a break instead of the writing superstar he was.