Posted on 06/19/2013 7:31:22 PM PDT by TurboZamboni
When "Memorial Day" was published in 2004, Flynn told the Pioneer Press how elated he was when a CIA chief of operations said "you can't get into a Humvee in Baghdad without kicking a Vince Flynn paperback."
"That director is a former Marine responsible for operations in all the bad spots, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran," Flynn recalled. "When he jumped up, starts pumping my hand and tells me he's a huge fan of my books, I almost fainted. He'd just gotten back from Baghdad, where the guys sat around a bonfire, drinking beer, arguing about who should play Mitch Rapp in a movie."
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
What! OMG, I have 2 of his books in my to read stack.
This is shocking.
RIP
Thank you, Vince.
Nice write-up. Sad news. Mitch Rapp is a cool character.
As remarkable as his books were, Vince Flynn’s own story was even more remarkable.
He finished high school without learning to read due to his dyslexia. He became a successful businessman while hiding the fact that he couldn’t read.
He attended a “personal power” convention when he was 30yo, and listened to a presenter reveal that the presenter taught himself to read at age 30. Flynn took that as a challenge, and learned to overcome his dyslexia and read.
But he didn’t feel comfortable writing, so he decided to improve his writing by writing a novel. When he finished the novel, he gave it to several people to read, who encouraged him to send it to publishers. He sent it to a publisher, who rejected it. He sent it to another ... who rejected. He collected 51 rejection slips.
Since no one else would publish it, he decided to publish it himself. Someone who read it sent it to their publisher friend and said they would be crazy to not publish it. The rest is history.
He will be missed by many, including myself.
RIP, Vince.
RIP Vince Flynn. He was one gifted guy for storytelling and a friend of Rush. I remember Freep meetups at O’Gara’s. If I ever get back that way I’ll raise a toast to Vince.
Very sad indeed, he was a gifted storyteller and true patriot. He was so honest with his readers it’s as if we lost a personal friend. All the best to his family.
Mack, that was really incredible to learn his history. The guy could write like a dream. WOW! is all I can say and only 47.
wow! Sometimes you just wonder...
RIP
RIP Vince. He is one of the few (along with Tom Clancy) who wasn’t afraid to write exactly what he thought of the commie professional political class in DC - and was a smashing success as well. Look forward to seeing the first movie- Bruce Willis has already been cast as Hurley.
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