Clancy Clan

I am sure Mr Clancy who has just died at 66 had many late nights facing the blinking cursor, unsure of where his thoughts and imagination might have taken him. The hunt for the next national-security threat.

Cold-war genre morphs into regional terrorism tale.

An epitome of story telling.

I am a fan.

It got me through many late nights as well, facing breakdowns in relationships and career.

Of course, in his stories, the good guys win in the end.

Adult children fantasy.

But we got enough real news out there. We need to retreat into a world of his own creation.

Suspense, sweat equity. Maryland and the fantasy land.

Not bad for an English major-turned insurance man turned best-selling author.

The pen is mightier than the sword.

Fiction trumps non-fiction.

In life, we got government shut-down.

In novel, we have our heroes carry out their mission to the teeth, peeing into an empty Gatorade bottle before each sortie.

By the time his last novel is on the stand, Clancy would have mesmerized the world for 30 solid years, with big thick hardbacks.

Perhaps in today’s cloud computing, soft power diplomacy and screen addiction, people will look back to Clancy

s days as vestige of sorrow rather than celebration.

Intelligent adults still cannot solve their problems and resolve their differences except over a shoot-out.

Truth be told, the world still needs good story telling (J.K. Rowling) and are willing to pay for it.

I am glad he bought a tank. Whatever made the man happy before going over to the other side.

Macho man and mandarin man.

Hard and soft power.

The power of imagination and reconciliation.

The story needs a tight ending. He set it up and tied it neatly til the end. His end. Now we need a new Clancy for our new decade. One who can creatively plot a way out of chemical weapon violation and dictator’s dogma who still rule today’s Iran, N Korea and Cuba. Defense gives way to State, and combat to collaboration. It’s a tall order. A new world order.  A new generation of fictional writers will in turn face their dark nights of the soul and those damn blinking cursors, just as Clancy did prior to his 1984 publication of the Hunt for the Red October. Remember, we might run out of options for a Government Shut Down, but imagination itself has never run dry. Try it, it might work. If not, try again.