Profile of Tom Clancy on Famous Like Me

This article is about Tom Clancy the novelist; for the member of the Irish folk band The Clancy Brothers, see Tom Clancy (singer)

Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (born April 12, 1947), who writes under the name Tom Clancy, is an American author of political thrillers heavily based on intelligence and military science concepts; his name is also a brand for similar books written by other authors. His earlier books have a definite focus on the Cold War.

While the literary merit of his books is disputed by many professional authors and reviewers (who regard Clancy's prose as pedestrian), most have been bestsellers. Fans of his work appreciate the well-thought-out plots and the apparent attention to technical detail in military matters.

In the year 1998, Tom Clancy attempted to purchase the Minnesota Vikings, and had a purchase agreement in place, but the deal fell through when his divorce settlement significantly decreased his net worth. He is currently the Vice Chairman of Community Projects & Public Affairs for the Baltimore Orioles.

Tom Clancy was an early, and to many, surprising defender of Islam after the WTC terror attacks, when he was one of the first experts interviewed on CNN on the day of 9/11.

Biography

Tom Clancy was born April 12, 1947 at Franklin Square Hospital, in Baltimore, MD. He attended Loyola High School in Towson, MD, graduating with the class of 1965.

Tom studied English Literature at Loyola College in Baltimore, graduating with the class of 1969. In a message to the usenet newsgroup alt.books.tom-clancy, he remarked that he studied English because "I wasn't smart enough to do physics."

Before making his literary debut, Tom spent some time running an independent insurance business.

Tom Clancy married his first wife, Wanda, in 1970. After having several children together, they divorced in 1998. Wanda was represented by Baltimore lawyer Sheila Sachs (). Divorce papers filed by Wanda in 1996 gave the reason that Tom Clancy had "committed adultery with one Katherine Huang," () allegedly a New York assistant district attorney he supposedly met on the Internet. An E! Online article further alleges that Ms. Huang used the internet aliases "Bin Bin" and "Ping Ping." Much of the media attention focus on the Clancys' divorce resulted from Tom's then-pending bid to buy the Minnesota Vikings.

In 1999, Clancy, at age 52, married 32-year old fellow writer Alexandra Marie Llewellyn, on June 26 (). Also, according to the Tom Clancy FAQ website:

It was previously reported in the Washington Post that he was to marry a niece of Colin Powell just after the divorce to his first wife was finalized. We may never know for sure given Mr. Clancy's zealous protection of his personal life.

Tom Clancy has 4 children.

Video games

In 1996, Clancy co-founded the computer game developer Red Storm Entertainment and ever since has had his name on several of Red Storm's most successful games. Red Storm was later bought by publisher Ubisoft Entertainment who continues to use the Clancy name. These games series include:

• Rainbow Six — based on the novel of the same name
• Ghost Recon
• Splinter Cell — recently spawned a line of books under the pseudonym David Michaels

All of the games bearing the Clancy name have been very successful spawning several sequels and expansions.

Bibliography

The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and The Sum of All Fears have been turned into commercially successful films with actors such as Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck as Clancy's most famous character Jack Ryan. As with most series of movie adaptations of popular novels, there is great controversy amongst fans concerning the (non-)canonicity of the movies, most of which take fairly extensive liberties with the series' plotlines.

In recent years, his novels have become more political, showcasing many of his conservative, neoliberal, pro-military, pro-life, and law-enforcement beliefs. In Executive Orders, Jack Ryan becomes President of the United States. Some of Ryan's policies include a new way of fighting the War on Drugs and tax reform (with a flat tax). Some Clancy fans have objected to this focus on politics rather than on the military subjects for which his earlier novels are famous. Nevertheless, his books have continued to sell briskly, perhaps due to momentum from his previous popularity. Alternatively his books' popularity could be due to his ideas resonating positively with his fans. He returned, somewhat, to his earlier approach with The Bear and the Dragon, which starts off as a political novel, and metamorphoses into a war procedural about 2/3 the way through.

Clancy has written several nonfiction books about various branches of the US armed forces (see non-fiction listing, below) Clancy has branded several lines of books with his name that are written by other, acknowledged authors following premises or storylines generally in keeping with Clancy's works:

• Tom Clancy's Net Force
• Tom Clancy's Op-Center
• Tom Clancy's Power Plays.

These are sometimes referred to by fans as "apostrophe" books; Clancy did not initially acknowledge that these series were being authored by others, only thanking the actual authors in the headnotes for their "invaluable contribution to the manuscript".

In 1997 Tom Clancy signed a book deal with Pearson Custom Publishing and 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 ABC television miniseries "Tom Clancy's Net Force" in an agreement worth US$22 million bringing the total value of the package to US$97 million.

(All but one of Clancy's novels feature Jack Ryan and/or John Clark.)

By publication date

• The Hunt for Red October (1984)

  Clancy's first novel. Jack Ryan assists in the defection of a respected Soviet naval captain, along with the most advanced missile sub of the Soviet fleet. Movie (1990) stars Alec Baldwin as Ryan and Sean Connery as Captain Ramius.

• Red Storm Rising (1986)

  War between NATO and USSR The basis of the submarine combat game of the same name, this is Clancy's only novel to date not set in his Ryaniverse. He co-wrote it with Larry Bond.

• Patriot Games (1987)

  Chronologically first book featuring Ryan. Ryan saves the Prince of Wales from terrorists, who go after Ryan and his family. Movie (1992) stars Harrison Ford as Ryan, and has a fictional lord instead of the Prince of Wales.

• The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988)

  First appearance of John Clark. Secret anti-satellite lasers (SDI), high-stakes diplomacy, spies and computer geeks.

• Clear and Present Danger (1989)

  Drug war in Colombia. Ryan and Clark finally meet; first appearance of 'Ding' Chavez. Movie (1994) stars Harrison Ford as Ryan and Willem Dafoe as Clark.

• The Sum of All Fears (1991)

  Israel loses a nuke, which terrorists use to foment war between US and Soviets -- averted by Ryan in a cliffhanger. Movie (2002) stars Ben Affleck as Ryan, and changes identity and motivation of the terrorists.

• Without Remorse (1993)

  Chronologically first book featuring John Clark. Set during the Vietnam war, tells how Clark became a CIA agent. Jack Ryan's father (Emmett Ryan) has a key role; Jack Ryan has a tiny cameo.

• Debt of Honor (1994)

  Clark and Ding help Ryan avert (win?) a war with Japan; a Japanese pilot avenges his son's death by crashing his airliner into the US Capitol, killing the entire Congress, Supreme Court, and all but two White House officials, which segues into...

• Executive Orders (1996)

  Sequel to Debt of Honor. Ryan, propelled into presidency, survives press hazing, assassination attempts and biological warfare -- Clark and Ding trace the virus to a Middle Eastern madman, and the US military goes to work.

• SSN (1996)

  Follows the missions of USS Cheyenne in a future war with China precipitated by their invasion of the disputed Spratly Islands. Also not a Ryaniverse book, SSN is actually a loosely connected collection of 'scenario' chapters in support of the eponymous computer game.

• Rainbow Six (1998)

  Released to tie in with the computer game of the same name. John Clark leads elite anti-terrorist unit and averts worldwide genocide attempt by environmental fanatics. (Jack Ryan is mentioned, but does not appear.)

• The Bear and the Dragon (2000)

  War between Russia and China, Ryan recognizes independence of Taiwan and US Air Force helps Russia defeat Chinese invasion.

• Red Rabbit (2002)

  Back when he was a humble CIA analyst, Ryan aids in the defection of a Soviet officer who knows of a plan to assassinate the Pope.

• The Teeth of the Tiger (2003)

  Features the rise of Jack Ryan's son, Jack Ryan Jr, as an intelligence analyst for The Campus, an off-the-books intelligence agency, following the retirement of Jack Sr. from the Presidency. Note: This is the latest book of the Jack Ryan series by Tom Clancy, introducing his son and his two nephews as heirs to his spook-legacy.

By series chronology

• Without Remorse
• Patriot Games
• Red Rabbit
• The Hunt for Red October
• The Cardinal of the Kremlin
• Clear and Present Danger
• The Sum of All Fears
• Debt of Honor
• Executive Orders
• Rainbow Six
• The Bear and the Dragon
• The Teeth of the Tiger

Non-fiction

• Submarine (1993)
• Armored Cav (1994)
• Fighter Wing (1995)
• Marine (1996)
• Into the Storm (1997)
• Airborne (1997)
• Carrier (1999)
• Every Man a Tiger (1999)
• Special Forces (2001)
• Shadow Warriors (2002)
• Battle Ready (with Anthony Zinni, 2004, ISBN 0399151761)
• Purle Heart (2005)

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Tom Clancy