Tom Clancy, Master Of Military Techno-Thrillers, Dies

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 Publishers Weekly and New York Times books reporter Julie Bosman. It was confirmed to NPR Wednesday morning in a statement from his publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons.

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

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

As the Times wrote in 1988, 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 sat down with C-SPAN to talk about books and take calls from viewers.

Watch for more on him from our friends on NPR's books beat.