“Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change around you, but your dream will not. Your life may change, but your dream doesn’t have to. Responsibilities need not erase it. Duties need not obscure it. Your spouse and children need not get in its way, because the dream is within you. No one can take your dream away.”

Bestselling author and popular commentator, Thomas Leo Clancy Jr., recently passed away at the age of 66.

Mr. Clancy’s prolific career began rather unexpectedly.  The former insurance agent originally began writing Patriot Games in the early 1970s, but after learning of the mutiny aboard the USSR vessel “Storozhevoy,” he authored The Hunt for the Red October.  After several publishers turned down the manuscript, Mr. Clancy approached the United States Naval Institute (USNI) and struck a deal with them resulting in the publication of their first fictional novel.  His sole goal during this process was simply just publication because “If your name is in the Library of Congress, you’re immortal.”  Yet, The Hunt for the Red October reached higher levels of success, and once President Reagan mentioned that it had been keeping him up all night, it immediately became a bestseller and remains to this day USNI’s most successful publication.

Mr. Clancy’s ability to bring out his environment with technical details clearly translated to the reader set high, new standards for fictional authors.  Unlike many authors that “data-dump” readers with incomprehensible numbers and statistics, Mr. Clancy took the time to explain the mechanics of the real and “imagined” items in his universe.  The ability for an author like Mr. Clancy to describe how a magnetohydrodynamic drive (The Hunt for the Red October) functioned to a diverse audience (who mostly had no experience with submarines and did not have “Google” to help them) is arguably unprecedented in fiction.  Ranging from describing the classic “Crazy Ivan” submarine maneuver used by Soviet submarines (The Hunt for the Red October) to the more technical AQS-13 dipping sonar on an SH-60 (Red Storm Rising), Mr. Clancy’s descriptions of these advanced, and often secret, topics are so well done that he once admitted that “I’ve made up stuff that’s turned out to be real, that’s the spooky part.”

Yet, Mr. Clancy supplemented his war-gamed scenarios and weapons with some of the best characters.  Jack Ryan serves for some as a cooler alternative than James Bond, and even Jason Bourne.  His background, demeanor, and successes kept readers enthralled—watching Ryan connect the dots to foil America’s adversaries (and the occasional political ones), and eventually somehow get caught up in a gunfight, is not only awesome, but it never gets old.  Sure, Ryan does not drink the famous Vesper cocktail or drive an Aston Martin, readers feel like they actually have something in common with him.  Watching him achieve heroic feats while displaying the qualities shared with readers is a rewarding experience.  How can you not like a man that stockbroker, to CIA historian, to President?

For many, Mr. Clancy was more than a literary powerhouse–he was an inspiring figure. When he put the pen to the paper, he created not only a page turner, but also created an educational and motivating experience that siphoned the abundance of energy of teenagers and men of all ages. From the submarine bridge in The Hunt for the Red October to the fields of the Fulda Gap in Red Storm Rising and the Olympics in Rainbow Six, Mr. Clancy always provided his readers with as realistic picture as possible, inspiring my personal current academic and professional pursuits, and many others. His characters, and the ideas that they fought for, truly embody the American spirit.

Although Mr. Clancy is in a different place, Jack Ryan, John Clark, Admiral Greer and Ding Chavez will always live in our libraries.