• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
In an undated Catholic Review file photo

Tom Clancy, 66, was supporter of Catholic education

October 2, 2013
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Filed Under: Local News, News, Obituaries

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn
By George P. Matysek Jr.
gmatysek@CatholicReview.org
 
Twitter: @ReviewMatysek
Even after Tom Clancy became an international bestselling novelist whose fans included the likes of President Ronald Reagan, the Baltimore-born writer never forgot the role his hometown Catholic education played in giving him the tools to his success.
“My Catholic education taught me the value of thinking for myself,” Clancy said in a 1990 radio ad promoting Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
Clancy, best known for works including “The Hunt for Red October” and “Clear and Present Danger,” died Oct. 1 at a Baltimore hospital, according to a tweet sent by his publisher. He was 66.
Clancy grew up in Baltimore and was a graduate of the former St. Matthew School in Northwood, Loyola Blakefield in Towson and what is now Loyola University Maryland.
Several of the books were adapted for the silver screen, and he later became a minority owner of the Baltimore Orioles and co-founder a video game company called Red Storm Entertainment.
In an interview with Catholic News Service in the mid-1990s, Clancy said Catholic schools taught him the same values that were being touted by then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
“God and country and family,” Clancy said. “All the stuff that should be ordinary, but isn’t.”
Catholic educators, including the School Sisters of Notre Dame and the Jesuits, also imparted a very important lesson for his line of work, he said: “I try real hard to make my deadlines.”
Clancy’s Catholic background was evident in some of the plotlines of his works. “Red Rabbit” is based on a fictional letter from Pope John Paul II to the Communist government of Poland in which the pope threatens to resign the papacy and return to Poland to be with his people.
“The main characters in all my books try to get the right thing done, act with the proper motives, not to violate their own integrity,” Clancy told Catholic News Service.
Nick Alexopulos, media relations manager for Loyola University Maryland, said in an Oct. 2 statement that the Loyola community is “saddened” by Clancy’s death. Clancy graduated from Loyola in 1969.
“Mr. Clancy was a prolific author with a passion for storytelling that engaged people all over the world,” Alexopulos said. “He truly embodied the creativity we inspire our students and alumni to bring to their personal and professional lives, and we are proud to call him a member of the Loyola University Maryland family. Our prayers are with his family, friends, and classmates at this difficult time and in the days to come.”
Also see:
13 fun facts about the 13th annual Baltimore Running festival
Pope calls for less ‘Vatican-centric,’ more socially conscious church
 

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

George P. Matysek Jr.

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • The ‘both/and’ pope

  • Patrick Brice sentenced to home detention for attacks on elderly pro-life supporters

  • Mount St. Mary’s launches new physician assistant program

  • The three questions young people asked Pope Leo XIV — and his answers

  • Movie Review: ‘The Naked Gun’

| Latest Local News |

Patrick Brice sentenced to home detention for attacks on elderly pro-life supporters

Notre Dame of Maryland University joins with Milwaukee college to address teacher shortage

Sister Agnese Neumann dies at 95

Maryland Catholic Conference pleads for peace on 80th Anniversary of atomic bombings

Father Donio receives Knights’ highest award for work as chaplain

| Latest World News |

For these young adults, soon-to-be-saint Frassati has ignited their faith amid fellowship

‘Rerum Novarum’ 2.0? Catholic labor advocates heartened by Pope Leo’s direction

Catholic MBA programs see business as force for good, blending doctrine, commerce

Amid ‘reverse migration,’ sisters in Mexico accompany migrants trapped by US policies

When nuns perished during adoration in wartime Warsaw, white doves rose into sky

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • We’re at the Beach. Let’s Go See the Sunrise
  • For these young adults, soon-to-be-saint Frassati has ignited their faith amid fellowship
  • ‘Rerum Novarum’ 2.0? Catholic labor advocates heartened by Pope Leo’s direction
  • Catholic MBA programs see business as force for good, blending doctrine, commerce
  • Patrick Brice sentenced to home detention for attacks on elderly pro-life supporters
  • Amid ‘reverse migration,’ sisters in Mexico accompany migrants trapped by US policies
  • Movie Review: ‘The Naked Gun’
  • When nuns perished during adoration in wartime Warsaw, white doves rose into sky
  • Nagasaki Franciscan monastery that survived atomic blast still stands as messenger of peace

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en