Fun Facts Friday: Tom Clancy

Tom Clancy (12 April, 1947 – 1 October, 2013) was a prolific bestselling American author known for his espionage books and military-science novels.

Books by Tom Clancy*

Fun Facts about Tom Clany:

1. The author was born as Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. in Baltimore, MD, where he grew up.
2. Mr. Clancy’s first novel, The Hunt for Red October, was sold to the Naval Institute Press for $5,000 in 1984. The Press Editor, Ms. Deborah Grosvenor said she thought “have a potential best seller here, and if we don’t grab this thing, somebody else would.”
3. The Hunt for Red October was a favorite of President Ronald Reagan who said it was “the best yarn”.
4. Seventeen of Mr. Clancy’s novels were number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
5. Because The Hunt for Red October was difficult to summarize, no one in Hollywood wanted to adapt it to a movie. It was only after Mace Neufeld, the producer, got a Paramount executive to read the novel that they got a green light for production.
6. Several of Mr. Clancy’s novels were not only adapted into movies, but also to video games.
7. In 1994 Mr. Clancy became part owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.
8. Red Storm Rising (1986) sold almost a million copies when it was published.
9. Even though he’s known for his fictional work, Mr. Clancy wrote several non-fiction books about the US military.
10. Stephen Hunter, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, said of Mr. Clancy that “”When he published The Hunt for Red October, he redefined and expanded the genre and as a consequence of that, many people were able to publish such books who had previously been unable to do so.”

Books by Tom Clancy*

Zohar – Man of la Book
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account