Author Tom Clancy Dead at 66

Tom Clancy, author of novels The Hunt for Red October, The Sum of All Fears, Patriot Games and more, has died in his hometown of Baltimore after what the Baltimore Sun reports was “a brief illness.” He was 66.

The prolific espionage author moved into writing after starting his career as an insurance salesman. Over the years, many of his novels like The Hunt for Red October, The Sum of All Fears, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger were adapted to the big screen, with actors like Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman featured in his films.

In 1987, Clancy moved into the video game world with a loose adaptation of The Hunt for Red October for PCs. In 1996, he cofounded video game developer Red Storm Entertainment and their 1998 game, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, became a popular franchise, setting the bar for first-person shooters. Other popular franchises followed: the Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell series have dominated sales charts over the last 10 years. The latest Clancy video game, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist, was released in August.

With true hometown pride, Clancy joined a group of investors to buy the Baltimore Orioles in 1993 and remained a partial owner of the team until his death. He has at least one more book on the way: Command Authority is scheduled for publication on December 3rd.