My favourite author died today and I am still reeling from the news. At 47, Vince Flynn still had not reached the top of his game when the cancer he had battled with such determination robbed us all of what more Vince had to give. This is my eulogy, my tribute if you will, to a man who made a massive impact on my life as a writer, and as someone I have grown to deeply respect and admire. It wasn’t just what Vince wrote. It was how he went about writing it, and, especially for me, how he wrote. Vince had an innate understanding of how to let his characters “speak”. He let them lead, and gave them far more than just voice. Of all the many books I have read, including highly regarded best-sellers and literary classics, I will stand up and shout that I loved Vince’s books the most. I hunted for them at book sales, in library cart castoffs, and garage sales. They were the treasures I carted home to triumphantly savour. And in the end, isn’t that what good writing should mean to the reader? In this thriller genre of covert ops, political vipers’ nests, and the fate of the world in one man’s hands, it is easy to overstep and lose all credibility; to render main characters two-dimensional as they become supermen. Not so in the stories Vince told. I love how Mitch Rapp swears. That grabbed me from the start: Rapp’s voice, biting out his frustration and anger the way anybody – okay I – would do. I cut my teeth on Tom Clancy’s massive tomes, filled with technical detail. Vince supplied that same detail, pared it down, and made a potent impact on the reader as the plot unravelled and the pace accelerated. And unlike many novels in this genre, there is a satisfying depth to these stories, allowing readers to develop relationships with the main characters as they navigate together through the complex twists and turns of the plot. And here is where Rapp’s brilliance cannot be exaggerated: his plots were so well-chosen, meticulously thought out, and terrifyingly applicable to present-day that Rapp was sought as a consultant by the CIA, the producers of the series “24”, among others. Really, as a reader, I could not ask for more.
But there was so much more to Vince Flynn than just the writer. The story of how he came to be an author, and what ensued, is a story worth reading in itself. First, and he would put this so, he was a dedicated and loving husband and father. His family meant the world to him. He was also a man of faith, Roman Catholic, something surprising and hard to come by in the stories he wrote. Vince also gave back, encouraging new authors and sharing the rewards of his success. He made sure to recognize the efforts of the military and support them every chance he could. It is my privilege to share what I know with you, and to honour the memory of someone who influenced my life considerably.
Thank you, Vince Flynn, for the wonderful legacy you have left us. And if I may, for the number of times I had to suppress the urge to shout “Yes!!” as I read how Mitch Rapp kicked ass and gave somebody what they justly deserved.
Issues and Intersections 