Remembering Tom Clancy

I will miss having Tom Clancy in the world. Few people can study up on subject matter to become an amazing writer. Clancy represented what someone could do in their life through hard work and creativity. We should not forget he was an insurance broker before publishing The Hunt for Red October.

I was not the only lawyer to read Tom Clancy novels; many Judges did too.

Here are highlights of Court opinions referencing Tom Clancy:

As anyone familiar with the novels of Tom Clancy will know, a towed sonar array is a listening device dragged behind submarines and surface ships. Silence is essential; a noisy towed array reduces optimal sound detection and increases the possibility that enemy submarines and ships will go undetected.

Martin Marietta Corp. v. Gould, Inc., 70 F.3d 768, 770 (4th Cir. Md. 1995).

We suspect that if the arbitrator had truly wanted to hide bias, he would simply have kept his mouth shut. Tom Clancy novels do not have plots as thick as the one Smothers suggests.

Smothers v. Cigna Health Plans of Cal., 2001 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1330 (Cal. App. 4th Dist. Nov. 27, 2001).

Certain pro se cases consume more resources than others. Plaintiff’s Complaints, for example, have generated hundreds of pages of motion papers and affidavits from defendants. Were I to address each of plaintiff’s claims individually  and each defendant’s corresponding arguments this Opinion would be the length of a Tom Clancy novel. However, the legal issues raised by plaintiff’s claims and defendants’ motions are not terribly complex. Furthermore, many [*6]  of the defendants’ motions share common ground. Thus, for efficiency’s sake, I will address plaintiff’s claims and defendants’ motions in appropriate groups.

Jones v. Trump, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7324, 5-6 (S.D.N.Y. May 22, 1997).

I’d say any nominees for Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, Director of the CIA and Homeland Security should be questioned by the Senate on Tom Clancy books. Clancy’s view of what could be a threat often had a real chance of happening. Like how do defend against a plane crashing into the Capital Building during a joint session of Congress.

An interviewer asked Tom Clancy after the collapse of the Soviet Union what he was going to do for “bad guys” in his books.

Clancy’s answer was hauntingly true with, “There will always be bad guys.”

The man understood national defense, had great respect for the military and helped children with cancer. We certainly could use more people like him.