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Tom Clancy

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Tom Clancy
OccupationNovelist
NationalityAmerican
Period1984 - 2003
GenreTechno-thriller, Crime fiction,
Military fiction, nonfiction

Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (born April 12, 1947) is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War and his video games. His name is also a brand for similar movie scripts written by ghost writers and many series of non-fiction books on military subjects and merged biographies of key leaders. He is also part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles, a Major League Baseball team. He officially is the Orioles' Vice Chairman of Community Activities and Public Affairs.

Biography

Thomas Leo Clancy, Jr. was born in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. He attended Loyola Blakefield in Towson, Maryland, graduating with the class of 1965. He studied English Literature at Loyola College in Baltimore, graduating in 1969.[1] Though he wanted to serve in the United States military, he was rejected after failing a required eye exam in the ROTC. Before making his literary debut, he spent some time running an independent insurance agency.

In 1993, Tom Clancy joined a group of investors that included Peter Angelos and bought the Baltimore Orioles from Eli Jacobs. In 1998, he reached an agreement to purchase the Minnesota Vikings, but had to abandon the deal due to the cost of his divorce settlement.

On June 26, 1999, Clancy married freelance journalist Alexandra Marie Llewellyn.[2] Llewellyn is the first cousin of Colin Powell, who originally introduced the couple to each other.[3]

In 2008, the use of Clancy's name was purchased by French video game manufacturer Ubisoft for an undisclosed sum. It will be used in conjunction with video games and related products such as movies, and books.[4]

Political views

Clancy has generally been regarded as a political conservative, and has donated over US$256,000 to Republican Party political candidates.[5]

A week after the 9/11 attack, on The O'Reilly Factor, Clancy stated that left-wing politicians in the United States were partly responsible for September 11 due to their "gutting" of the CIA.[3] Clancy has also associated himself with General Anthony Zinni, a critic of the George W. Bush administration, and has been critical of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.[6]

Some of his books bear dedications to Republican political figures, most notably Ronald Reagan. In his novels countries portrayed as hostile to the U.S. include the former Soviet Union, Syria, China, Iran, India, and Japan while Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom are shown as close allies of the USA.

Clancy was an early defender of Islam during the aftermath of September 11 attacks. On CNN, Clancy argued that Islam does not condone suicide attacks.

On September 11, 2001, Clancy was interviewed by Judy Woodruff on CNN.[7] Among other observations during this interview, Clancy criticized the news media's treatment of the U.S. intelligence community. Clancy appeared again on PBS's Charlie Rose, where he debated Vice-Presidential candidate Senator John Edwards.[8]

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 Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, and Harrison Ford as Clancy's most famous fictional character Jack Ryan, while his second most famous character John Clark has been played by actors Willem Dafoe and Liev Schreiber. The first NetForce novel was adapted as a television movie, starring Scott Bakula and Joanna Going. The first Op-Center novel was released to coincide with a 1995 NBC television mini-series of the same name (Tom Clancy's Op-Center) starring Harry Hamlin and a cast of stars. Though the mini-series didn't continue the book series did, but it had little in common with the first mini-series other than the title and the names of the main characters.

The website IMDB reports that Tom Clancy's novel Without Remorse is to be made into a movie and is expected to be released in 2011.

With the release of The Teeth of the Tiger, Clancy introduced Jack Ryan's son and two nephews as main characters.

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

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, Clancy signed a book deal with 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 aired in the fall/winter of 1998. The OP-Center universe has laid the ground for the series of books written by Jeff Rovin, which was in an agreement worth US $22 million bringing the total value of the package to US$97 million.

All but two of Clancy's novels feature Jack Ryan or John Clark.

By publication date

The Hunt for Red October (1984)
Clancy's first published novel. CIA analyst Jack Ryan assists in the defection of a respected Soviet naval captain, along with the most advanced ballistic missile submarine of the Soviet fleet. The movie (1990) stars Alec Baldwin as Ryan and Sean Connery as Captain Ramius. Captain Mancuso is introduced here. Nearly every book after has Mancuso in ever increasing command of U.S. submarine forces.
Red Storm Rising (1986)
War between NATO and USSR. The basis of the combat game of the same name, this book is not a member of the Ryan story series (although the protagonist of the story has many similarities with Jack Ryan). He co-wrote it with Larry Bond.
Patriot Games (1987)
The first book that Clancy wrote, Patriot Games predates The Hunt for Red October in chronological order. Jack Ryan foils an attack in London on the Prince and Princess of Wales by the "Ulster Liberation Army". The ULA then attacks Ryan's Maryland home while he is hosting the Prince and Princess for dinner. The movie stars Harrison Ford as Ryan and Samuel L. Jackson as Robby Jackson.
The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988)
First appearance of John Clark and Sergey Golovko. Ryan leads a CIA operation which forces the head of the KGB to defect. Other elements include anti-satellite lasers and other SDI-type weapons, and the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Major Alan Gregory is introduced here. (He appears later, updating SAM software in The Bear and the Dragon). Colonel Bondarenko also is introduced here. (He appears in later books offering advice to Golovko in "Executive Orders" and commanding the Russian Army defenses against China in its sequel "The Bear and the Dragon")
Clear and Present Danger (1989)
The President authorizes the CIA to use American military forces in a covert war against cocaine producers in Colombia. The operation is betrayed. Ryan meets John Clark as they lead a mission to rescue abandoned soldiers. Domingo "Ding" Chavez (Clark's protege in later novels) is one of the rescued soldiers. The movie (1994) stars Harrison Ford as Ryan, Willem Dafoe as Clark and Raymond Cruz as Chavez.
The Sum of All Fears (1991)
Arab terrorists find a nuclear weapon that had been lost by Israel, and use it to attack the United States. This nearly triggers a war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, due to the incompetence of the new President and his advisor. Ryan intervenes to avert the war. The 2002 movie stars Ben Affleck as Ryan, Liev Schreiber as Clark, and changes the identity and motivation of the terrorists to neo-Nazis.
Without Remorse (1993)
The sixth book published in the Jack Ryan series gives the earliest events in Ryan's life. Without Remorse takes place during the Vietnam War, when Jack Ryan was a teenager. Ex-SEAL John Clark (then John Kelly) fights a bloody one-man war against drug dealers in Baltimore, attracting the attention of Jack's father Emmett, a Baltimore police detective. He also helps plan and execute a raid on a prisoner-of-war camp in North Vietnam. Clark joins the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Debt of Honor (1994)
A secret cabal of extreme nationalists gains control of Japan (having acquired some nuclear weapons), and start a war with the U.S. Ryan, now National Security Advisor, and Clark and Chavez, agents in Japan, help win the war. The Vice President resigns in a scandal, and the President appoints Ryan to replace him. A vengeful, die-hard Japanese airline pilot then crashes a jetliner into the U.S. Capital during a joint session of Congress attended by most senior U.S. government leaders, including the President. Ryan thus becomes the new President through succession.
Executive Orders (1996)
This is the immediate sequel to Debt of Honor. President Ryan survives press hazing, an assassination attempt, and a biological warfare attack on the USA. Clark and Chavez trace the virus to a Middle Eastern madman, and the U.S. military goes to work.
SSN: Strategies for Submarine Warfare (1996)
Follows the missions of USS Cheyenne in a future war with China precipitated by China's invasion of the disputed Spratly Islands. Also not a Ryanverse book, SSN is actually a loosely connected collection of "scenario" chapters in support of the eponymous computer game.
Rainbow Six (1998)
Released to coincide with the computer game of the same name. John Clark and Ding, who is now Clark's son-in-law, lead an elite multi-national anti-terrorist unit that combats a worldwide genocide attempt by eco-terrorists. (Jack Ryan is the U.S. President and only mentioned or referred to as either 'The President' or 'Jack'.)
The Bear and the Dragon (2000)
War between Russia and China. Ryan recognizes the independence of Taiwan, a Chinese police officer kills a diplomat, and the American armed forces help Russia defeat a Chinese invasion of Siberia.
Red Rabbit (2002)
In the early 1980s, CIA analyst Ryan aids in the defection of a Soviet officer who knows of a plan to assassinate Pope John Paul II.
The Teeth of the Tiger (2003)
Jack Ryan's son, Jack Ryan Jr., becomes an intelligence analyst, and then a field consultant, for The Campus, an off-the-books intelligence agency with the freedom to discreetly assassinate individuals "who threaten national security", following the end of the Jack Ryan Sr. presidential administration. This is the latest book of the Jack Ryan series by Tom Clancy, introducing Ryan's son and two nephews as heirs to his spook-legacy.

By series plot chronology

Novels not in the series

Jack Ryan/John Clark Universe

Op-Center Universe

  • Op-Center (1995) by Jeff Rovin
  • Mirror Image (1996) by Jeff Rovin
  • Divide and Conquer (2001) by Jeff Rovin
  • Games of State
  • Acts of War
  • Balance of Power
  • State of Siege
  • Line of Control
  • Mission of Honor
  • War of Eagles
  • Sea of Fire
  • Call to Treason

NetForce Universe

  • NetForce (1998)
  • Hidden Agendas
  • Night Moves
  • Breaking Point
  • Point of Impact
  • Cybernation
  • State of War
  • Springboard
  • Changing of the Guard
  • The Archimedes Effect

NetForce Explorers Universe

  • Virtual Vandals
  • The Deadliest Game
  • One is the Loneliest Number
  • The Ultimate Escape
  • End Game
  • Cyberspy
  • The Great Race
  • Shadow of Honor
  • Private Lives
  • Safe House

Power Plays Series

  • Politika (novel, 1997)
  • ruthless.com (novel, 1998)
  • ruthless.com (computer game, 1998) by Red Storm Entertainment
  • Shadow Watch (novel, 1999) by Jerome Preisler
  • Shadow Watch (computer game, 1999) by Red Storm Entertainment
  • Bio-Strike (novel, 2000) by Jerome Preisler
  • Cold War (novel, 2001) by Jerome Preisler
  • Cutting Edge (novel, 2002) by Jerome Preisler
  • Zero Hour (novel, 2003) by Jerome Preisler
  • Wild Card (novel, 2004) by Jerome Preisler

Ghost Recon Universe

Non-fiction

Guided Tour

Study in Command

Other

  • The Tom Clancy Companion - Edited by Martin H. Greenberg - Writings by Clancy along with a concordance of all his fiction novels, detailing characters and military units or equipment.

Video games

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

There were also video games based on the novel The Hunt for Red October and the film adaptation thereof. The two games were published by Grandslam Entertainment. The version based on the film was available on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Amiga, Atari ST, IBM PC, Amstrad, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES and Game Boy systems, whereas the version based on the book was available on the Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad 1512 pc, Amstrad CPC, Apple Macintosh, Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 systems. In 2002 and 2003 a video game based on the film version of The Sum of All Fears was released for the PC and Nintendo Gamecube system. Although very similar to the Rainbow Six games, The Sum Of All Fears was poorly received.

Many of the games bearing the Clancy name have been very successful, spawning several sequels and expansions. It is unknown how much input Clancy actually has into the games.

World news media is a fictional news network that had been featured in many Tom Clancy's video games.

Board games

Achievements and awards

  • Clancy is one of only two authors to have sold two million copies on a first printing in the 1990s. (John Grisham is the other author.) Clancy's 1989 novel Clear and Present Danger sold 1,625,544 hardcover copies, making it the #1 bestselling novel of the 1980s.[10]
  • Clancy is an honorary Yeoman Warder of The Tower of London holding the title "Supernumerary Yeoman".[12] On the television show Ace of Cakes his wife commissioned, for his 60th birthday, a special cake in the shape of the Tower of London in acknowledgment of his status. In the episode, Tom Clancy referred to the Beefeaters as, "Just a terrific bunch of guys".

See also

References

  1. ^ alt.books.tom-clancy post by Tom Clancy
  2. ^ "Alexandra Llewellyn, Tom Clancy," The New York Times, June 27, 1999.
  3. ^ a b NNDB - Tom Clancy
  4. ^ Clancy name bought by Ubisoft, worth big bucks
  5. ^ Tom Clancy - Political Donations at newsmeat.com
  6. ^ Paperback Writer, The New Republic, 25 May 2004
  7. ^ Tom Clancy on Sept 11 2001 & WTC 7 Collapse
  8. ^ An hour about the 9/11 attacks
  9. ^ http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/399
  10. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/25thann/bestsellers.htm Washington Post
  11. ^ Rensselaer Magazine: Summer 2004: At Rensselaer
  12. ^ TC Post: Clancy Speaks Again Briefly

Literary reviews and criticism

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