Thomas L. Clancy Jr. had published only a letter and a short article before he submitted his novel The Hunt for Red October to the Naval Institute Press, a publisher devoted to scholarly writings about sailing and the sea. Only recently had the editors of the press decided to add fiction about the sea to its publications. An insurance salesman with a bachelor's degree in English, Clancy had never served in the navy. Even so, his book was accepted for publication, and in late 1984 it appeared. He later sold the paperback rights to The Hunt for Red October for $49,500.

Since the publication of that first novel in 1984, Clancy has become an internationally famous writer and something of a cult personality, especially among technophiles.

The Deadliest Game, 1999 (Tom Clancy, Steve Pieczenik, and Diane Duane) One Is the Loneliest Number, 1999 (Tom Clancy, Steve Pieczenik, and Diane...