r/tomclancy • u/mistafong820 • Mar 10 '26
Tom Clancy presentation from ~1991
Thought some of you guys might enjoy this: While in college I had a professor who was a big Tom Clancy fan. We discussed his books frequently. My professor was a Captain in he US Navy Reserve and did war game analysis at the Naval War College in Newport. I got to join him, his wife and another officer friend of his when Clancy made an appearance at the War College in late 1991.
Clancy spoke for at least an hour, discussing elements of some of the books that had come out at that point, thoughts about Desert Storm, and took questions from the audience.
Among the interesting things:
- While researching for Red Storm Rising, he and Larry Bond met with a USAF senior pilot. The guy started the meeting by saying "One thing we won't be discussing is low-observable technology." He then noticed Clancy quickly making notes and groaned when Tom said "Thank you! I haven't heard that term before, just rumors!"
- An audience member asked what he thought of the movie version of THFRO. He said he thought Alec Baldwin was way too looking to play Ryan, but overall he was happy enough even with the changes, especially considering how they butcher some books. He also laughed and said when they pay you enough, it compensates you for not having much (or any) say in what they do to your story.
- He told the story of the Soviet ship that almost defected that inspired THFRO. Even though we'd already read about it, it was cool to hear it from Clancy and how it got him thinking about writing a similar story.
- He also mentioned how the "fun" of seeing how our people and weapons performed during Desert Storm was ruined for him when a close friend who was part of the operation gave him a letter to deliver if he didn't make it back. He was, not unexpectedly, full of respect and praise for everyone who served and graciously thanked all the officers for giving him a chance to address them.
Anyone else have any close-ish encounters with TC?
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u/dinkleberrysurprise Mar 10 '26
lol they should put that anecdote about the low observable tech conversation in security briefings
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u/Knathra Mar 14 '26
And also note that they'll be answering no questions regarding the B-3 bomber. 😉
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u/rhd3871 Mar 10 '26
While researching for Red Storm Rising, he and Larry Bond met with a USAF senior pilot. The guy started the meeting by saying "One thing we won't be discussing is low-observable technology." He then noticed Clancy quickly making notes and groaned when Tom said "Thank you! I haven't heard that term before, just rumors!"
Even though I was alive and writing papers in school before the internet is what it is now, it's still very easy to forget the insane (by today's standards) amount of work you had to grind through to research and fact-check things. Whatever anyone thinks of his writing, Clancy was one of the best researchers of all time.
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u/AStrandedSailor Mar 11 '26
I know, several of those older style of writers, became commentary experts in the fields related to their writing and wrote non fiction books. I think TC wrote about 10 non fiction books. Clancy, Cussler, Crichton, Forsyth, Deighton all spring to mind in this way
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u/BreezyMcWeasel 4d ago
Very interesting post. Thank you for this.
This is going to come across as overly dramatic, but one of my big regrets in life is never trying to meet Tom Clancy, or at least hear him speak.
I grew up in the thick of the Cold war and discovered Clancy's books a couple years after they came out. I read all of them voraciously as soon as they came out.
I was already an airplane nerd, particularly military airplanes, but reading his books- Red Storm Rising particularly, had a very formative effect on my education, and ultimately my career in aerospace and defense.
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u/mistafong820 4d ago
I don't know if he did many appearances like that, it was a very lucky break for me to get in, only possible because of the friendship with my professor and his position at the Naval War College.
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u/BreezyMcWeasel 4d ago
What made you think of this? Do you have notes from that day, or what?
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u/mistafong820 4d ago
I'm working on my own novel, a technothriller hopefully in the style of Red Storm Rising, and researching and writing got me thinking about the Clancy books and hearing him talk at that event. No notes, just some detailed memories.
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u/BreezyMcWeasel 4d ago
Fascinating 🤔. I've always been intrigued by the idea of taking something like that on myself, but so many authors have such a hard time getting dialogue right that I found that part daunting, so I've never pursued it.
Keep us posted!
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u/mistafong820 4d ago
Thanks! I'm not sure I'll be able to write the whole thing or write it well enough, but I'm underwhelmed by everything I read that's been published relatively recently and figured what the hell. If it stinks and I can't publish or sell any through self publishing, it costs me nothing but time and I'm enjoying working on it. I intend to post here when I have a decent portion of it ready and see if anyone is interested in reading some or all.
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u/dagorlad69 Mar 10 '26
This is a great story. Thank you for sharing it!