BEST-SELLING AUTHOR TOM CLANCY DEAD AT 66

Tom Clancy, one of the best-selling novelists in U.S. history — 17 of his books ranked No. 1 on the New York Times‘s best-seller list — has died in Baltimore at age 66. A cause of death was not disclosed. Several of his novels, featuring the character Jack Ryan, became hit films, including The Hunt for Red October, which grossed $201 million worldwide in 1990 ($360 million in today’s dollars); Patriot Games, which grossed $178 million worldwide in 1992 ($300 million in today’s dollars); and Clear and Present Danger, which grossed $216 million worldwide in 1994 ($340 million in today’s dollars), Clancy’s most recent novel, Command Authority, is due to be released on Dec. 3. In its obituary, the New York Times quoted Clancy as saying, “You learn to write the same way you learn to play golf. … You do it, and keep doing it until you get it right. A lot of people think something mystical happens to you, that maybe the muse kisses you on the ear. But writing isn’t divinely inspired — it’s hard work.”