Tom Clancy, who began his very lucrative writing career with his first novel, The Hunt for Red October (and published by the Naval Institute Press), has passed away at age 66.

From YahooFinance:

By Aly Weisman | Business Insider – 1 hour 11 minutes ago

According to the Publishers Weekly Twitter account, American author Tom Clancy died Wednesday in a Baltimore hospital at age 66.  A cause of death has not been revealed.

In 2002,  Forbes wrote, “Clancy can produce a guaranteed bestseller just by writing two words: his name.”

“When it comes to leveraging his brand across multiple channels, he is positively protean,” Forbes continued, noting his income at the time made him  the tenth-best earner on Forbes Celebrity 100 list for 2002. His net worth today is reported to be around $300 million.

Clancy has been a lifetime supporter of conservative and Republican causes in America,  a member of the  National Rifle Association  since 1978, and was  part-owner of the  Baltimore Orioles.

His next book, “Command Authority,” is planned for publication on December 3.

Mr Clancy apparently had heart problems in 2006 and had, in general, very poor eyesight which kept him from military service.

I enjoyed your works, sir.  Requiescat en pace.

BZ