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Tom Clancy

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Astute CIA analyst Jack Ryan has been orphaned. His literary father, writer Tom Clancy, a specialist in military intelligence thrillers, died on October 2, 2013, at a Baltimore hospital, at the age of 66.

Born on April 12, 1947 in Baltimore, Maryland, Thomas Leo Clancy was the son of a postman and a receptionist. Member of a Catholic family, he was educated with the Jesuits at Loyola High School. Later, he studied English Literature, at Loyola College, in his hometown. Apparently he didn’t consider himself smart enough to study Physics, which he really liked.

After marrying Wanda Thomas, Tom Clancy starts working at his in-laws’ insurance company in 1973. But the company doesn’t go well, and he decides to start writing, first with stories appearing in magazines like Analog Sci-Fi.

He debuted as a novel author with The Hunt for Red October , from 1984, where what was to be his best-known character, agent Jack Ryan, was already present. It became so successful that even President Ronald Reagan considered it his bedside book. Alec Baldwin played Ryan in the 1990 film version, directed by John McTiernan , where Sean Connery played a USSR submarine captain.

After writing his second work, “Red Storm”, together with Larry Bond, in 1986, he specializes in plots about terrorist danger, politics and espionage. He would continue the Jack Ryan series until 2012, who would become president of the United States, and would also write other fiction books such as “Against all enemies”, with Peter Telep.

Passionate about military technology, Tom Clancy wrote numerous essays on the subject, including “Shadow Warriors. In the heart of the special forces”, “Aircraft carrier: Visit aboard a floating city” or “Marines”. He also created a specialized military-themed video game company called Red Storm Entertainment.

After divorcing the aforementioned Thomas, Tom Clancy had a relationship with Katherine Huang for some time. In 1999 he married Alexandra Llewellyn, a broadcast journalist, a second cousin of Colin Powell.

On film, Harrison Ford was the most successful Jack Ryan, in Patriot Games and Imminent Danger , both by Phillip Noyce . Later he got into the skin of the character Ben Affleck in Phil Alden Robinson ‘s Nuclear Panic . Chris Pine reprises the character in Jack Ryan: Shadow One , directed by Kenneth Branagh , scheduled for a Christmas Day 2013 US release.

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