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Tom Clancy: Do You See a Man Skilled At His Work?

    Hey, everyone. I saw on the internet, just now, that author Tom Clancy has died. Recently I wrote in a post that he and James Clavell were in a class by themselves as writers. So today, the world has lost a great man and a producer of art. Wilbur Smith would hang with these two guys and considering his advanced years, his loss may be imminent as well. Someone will doubtless step forward to write their types of books, but there will certainly be a vacuum for a while.
   Clancy was one of those guys that had me scheduling vacation on the day when his latest book was scheduled to go on sale and there was no way that I would wait for the paperback. These types of guys appear by the handful, not the bucketful; a few in your lifetime. It is wonderful that he received the acclaim he deserved. Not all people do. Somewhere there is a writer as good as Clancy who can't even be published. If you don't believe that, remember that Harry Potter was picked from a slush pile.
      As I think about Clancy's demise, I reflect on books themselves and how people can go back, many years after an author's death, and soak in their personality and gifts. Like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Zane Grey, for instance. Would they get a thrill to know that a new generation is even now being transported to the old west or even beyond the farthest star? I think they would.
      Clancy's books were an education in high tech weaponry, military tactics and terrorism. They were big enough and complex enough to feel like a savory meal, tied up with a big red bow and brought to a culmination by a bounteous dessert at the end. In my personal top fifty books of all time, Tom's novels would hold several of the spots. Without Remorse, Executive Orders, Debt of Honor and The Hunt For Red October leap to mind as prominent leaders on that list.
    I've mentioned on this blog that Tom Clancy was called on the carpet by Congress for writing about some of our military's  high tech gear. He was revered by the military and had many friends in Great Britain and American military circles. He was fiercely patriotic. He also tried to buy the Minnesota Vikings and fell a bit short on cash.
     When a man or woman is one of the best in the world at something, you can almost feel it in the air when they die. The top percentile of people often make these monstrous waves in life. The arts, humanitarians, writers, great ministers and leaders like Churchill, make their mark and leave a void. Is it any wonder that the KGB took especial interest in writers? They knew that writers, even of fiction, perhaps especially of fiction, held the ability to sway the 'masses', to influence public opinion, to break down doors and launch new social mores.
      I don't mean to put anyone on a pedestal, nor do I compare the contributions of Clancy and Churchill. But if you look at people like Paul McCartney and his contributions to the arts and his imprint on peoples' lives, he will be sadly missed when he dies. Paul will be seen as one of the great people from the arts, of all time. Clancy was really special and I wish his family and friends... peace. In closing, let me quote from the greatest of authors..."Do you see a man skilled at his work? He will stand before kings and not before ordinary men."
    From the green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
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