Tom Clancy, Master Of Military Techno-Thrillers, Dies

Tom Clancy, Master Of Military Techno-Thrillers, Dies
By Mark MemmottNPR News

Tom Clancy, the best-selling writer of such "techno-thrillers" as The Hunt for Red October, Red Storm Rising and Patriot Games, has died.

He was 66.

The news of his death was first reported in tweets from and . It was confirmed to NPR Wednesday morning in a statement from his publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Clancy lived in Maryland. , he "died Tuesday after a brief illness at the Johns Hopkins Hospital."

that Ivan Held, president of Putnam publishers, says Clancy "was a thrill to work with."

As the , Clancy was an "insurance agent turned supernovelist" who made the U.S. military "the real hero of his fast-paced, carefully researched techno-thrillers."

Putnam's says "Clancy's blockbuster debut novel, The Hunt for Red October, was published in 1984. Command Authority, Clancy's 17th novel, is due out from G.P. Putnam's Sons in December 2013."

In 2002, Clancy to talk about books and take calls from viewers.

Nobody knows what he died from?

Aw man...