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Tom Clancy Is Dead At 66
guttentag writes "The author of The Hunt for Red October and many military and espionage novels which inspired a number of movies video games died last night in a Baltimore Hospital. The news was first reported by Publishers Weekly's Twitter account this morning and confirmed by New York Times Book Reporter Julie Bosman's Twitter account."
Although his writing was pretty mechanical, his stories were real page turners. It's sad to see him go.
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
Write the story for Ghost Recon 17: Invade Cuba Again?
n/t
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
The technical detail and intriguing blending of military tactics and politics engrossed me as a child. Perhaps more importantly, his political views that often shone through his writings challenged my own, which are often contrary to the ones he held, in a way that did not make me instinctively defensive or unreasonable. He was a great writer, indeed. RIP.
He was very tech oriented and worked extensively with people in the field to try to make his novels sound as accurate on the details as he could. He was good enough at taking non-classified data and extrapolating where things could go from there that he received visits from the FBI and CIA to find out how he knew what he knew.
He certainly made things up (caterpillar drive for the sub etc), but the point is he worked tirelessly to get technical details right in as many cases as he could, and to try get them as plausible as he could get away with in those cases where he needed to make the up. He put a lot more effort into getting the details right than most authors and far more than Hollywood ever did and for that his passing is very relevant for Slashdot. He took creative license, but he took it far less than a lot of other authors (Bourne Ultimatum series etc) and used it far more selectively.
He wrote 17 number one selling books and had three of his books turned into blockbuster movies. He was active in having games made about his books even back in the 80's and made sure a series of games was made ever since then. He came up with ideas for terrorism like flying a civilian airliner into a government building before 9/11.
So the passing of an author who is popular amongst nerds and geeks gets mentioned here (all due respect to Clancy) while the obituaries of much more significant pioneers of geeky, nerdy things are routinely dropped from consideration after submission. It happens again and again. It seems like popularity trumps significance. How about an Obituary Section?
I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
I've always wondered what kind of audience his books are intended for. I really liked Red Storm Rising when I first read it at the age of 14-15, Patriots, Hunt For the Red October and something else were also fun. Then I (and my classmates) kind of outgrew him, and the later books just seems bizarre - greens are terrorists?
I can still enjoy re-reading some stuff, just like I can kind of enjoy watching teen-movies like Pacific Rim (ok, that's not totally true - stopped watching after 4/5th when I got tired of all pointless robot battles). But I get the impression most of his readers are adults?
Anyway, thanks Tom for at least providing the inspiration for Red Storm Rising the sub simulator! One of the best C64 games ever.
Obamacare starts. Tom Clancy Dies. Coincidence? I think not.
Am I the only one who finds it sad that such an influential author's death warranted only a tweet by his publisher and that it was "confirmed" by a NYT reporter's tweet as opposed to say, Clancy's estate or an official family statement? Tom Clancy dies and he gets two tweets. I suppose there's a bit of irony there. Now get off my lawn.
I shout this every time I see someone fake right then flip around for a u-turn at a 4-way stop in San Francisco, which is like every day.
Michael Clarke Duncan was a Vegetarian and he died at 54.
http://www.peta.org/features/Michael-Clarke-Duncan.aspx
This whole thread will probably be modded down, but the OP, statistically is probably right. Someone dieing in the US @ 66 was probably afflicted with coronary artery disease (almost always from a lifetime of chronic animal consumption, as a plant-based diet doesn't impart plaque on the artery walls like an animal-based diet does), or died from the the symptoms of diabetes. He wasn't a smoker, so lung cancer can probably be ruled out. Also doubt he got hit by a car while on his skateboard.
Where I am going, you cannot follow.
[R]ed Storm Rising
[I]nto the Storm
[P]atriot Games
Tom Clancy :'(
***
And lets not forget his depicting an aircraft being crashed into the capitol building years before it was attempted in real life.
I'll be that within 24 hours of his death he wasn't doing much of anything.
If you can read this, it means that I bothered to log in.
It used to be you could read Tom Clancy and identify with the characters, exult in the common mission, and marvel at his technical details. It didn't matter what part of the political spectrum you hailed from, you could still read his books and feel good about being an American. Then at some point, I think it was "Debt of Honor," his schtick slid beyond to a right-wing crazyland fantasy where I could not follow.
I come from a military family. I come from a family with deep roots in America, half native-American, half-original European settlers. I could not stomach the jingoism that defined his later writing. America is not a destination, it's a process. If you forget that, and kick everybody who you don't see eye-to-eye with off the bus, then you forfeit your own seat on the ride, as far as I'm concerned.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Also, at the risk of Godwinning the thread, a certain vegetarian German politician died at 56.
Vegetarians and vegans aren't necessarily any healthier than anyone else: It all depends on a lot more than what somebody eats or doesn't eat.
I am officially gone from
Vegetarians and vegans aren't necessarily any healthier than anyone else: It all depends on a lot more than what somebody eats or doesn't eat.
I know a vegan who eats a steady diet of ho-ho's and sugared coconut milk. This individual is about 450lbs.
My God, it's Full of Source!
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His early books, (all in the Jack Ryan) series, up to and including Cardinal of the Kremlin, were excellent, as was Red Storm Rising and some of his non-fiction books were excellent. Well-written, tightly-plotted, thrillers with interesting characters. I think Sum of All Fears was the start of the slide (Clear and Present was borderline...)
I was first introduced to his books when reading a copy of Hunt for Red October in my high-school library. In retrospect, I should have stolen it, as it was a first-edition copy from the Naval Institute Press. (His jacket photo was of him as a dorky clerk in his Father-in-law's insurance office.)
I think his later books suffered from his success, as they were written like he no longer paid any attention to his editor (I once saw the same sentence repeated on consecutive pages), and his books become overlong, sloppy, and too packed with rambling polemic. (Although I suppose you can argue that for the audience that enjoys polemic, they were too mild.)
Also, at the risk of Godwinning the thread, a certain vegetarian German politician died at 56.
Vegetarians and vegans aren't necessarily any healthier than anyone else: It all depends on a lot more than what somebody eats or doesn't eat.
I disagree,
There aren't any vegan rock stars because they all collapsed mid show due to a lack of iron and protein.
Plus it's near impossible to find organic, fair-trade cocaine.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.