Bestselling author Vince Flynn has died at 47-years-old after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. He died Wednesday morning at United Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, and leaves behind a wife and three children.
“Read by current and former presidents, foreign heads of state, and intelligence professionals around the world, Flynn’s novels are taken so seriously one high-ranking CIA official told his people, ‘I want you to read Flynn’s books and start thinking about how we can more effectively wage this war on terror,’” according to his website.
Flynn said he heard personally from former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush that they’re “big fans.”
He also worked with the producers of the hit Fox show 24, consulting on story lines for the show’s fifth season.
Flynn announced in February of 2011 that he was being treated for Stage III prostate cancer.
In a 2012 interview with WCCO-TV, Flynn said: “I was in pain writing the last 2 books, but I didn’t know how serious it was.”
He was also a man of faith. A friend of the Flynns, Fr. Peter Laird said that there were always two things in Vinnie’s hands: his
phone and his ring rosary. Father added, “One was used to communicate
with people on Earth, and one was used to communicate with God in
Heaven.” He then stated that a copy of the Magnificat prayer book was always near his side.
Vince and his wife are very pro-life. In fact, recently he donated a
dinner with himself and former NFL player, Matt Birk, for the Wakota
Lifecare Center. In one of his books he bravely condemns partial-birth
abortion. He debated this issue well in a secular context, trying to enlighten readers to the importance of respecting the unborn.
A friend once heard him tell someone, “If you just stepped foot into a
Catholic church you wouldn’t have so much anxiety.” Because Vince
embraced his faith, he didn’t have any fear about dying. But as Father
Laird said at Vince’s deathbed, “He just didn’t want to go so soon.”
