Author Vince Flynn Dies at the Age of 47

Famed author Vince Flynn—an Edina resident and Saint Thomas Academy grad—died early Wednesday morning at the age of 47 following a battle with prostate cancer, Simon & Schuster, his publisher, announced.

Flynn was best known for his Mitch Rapp thriller series. Flynn wrote a total of 14 books, and his first book, Term Limits, is the only one that doesn’t feature Rapp.

Flynn was born in St. Paul on April 6, 1966. He graduated from St. Thomas Academy in 1984 and got a degree in economics from the University of St. Thomas in 1988. He then became an account and sales marketing specialist for Kraft General Foods.

He left Kraft to fly for the Marine Corps. But one week before the end of Officer Candidate School, he was disqualified because of concussion and seizures he had as a child following a car crash.

He started thinking about his first book while seeking a medical waiver—even though he’d been diagnosed with dyslexia in grade school and struggled with reading and writing all his life.

Flynn later took a job with commercial real estate company United Properties in the Twin Cities. After two years with United Properties, he quit his job and moved to Colorado to pursue writing full time. Flynn worked as a bartender while writing what would become Term Limits.

He spent five years trying to get his book published and received more than 60 rejection letters before deciding to self publish. The book shot to No. 1 in the Twin Cities—earning Flynn a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster’s Pocket Books. After Pocket Books published Term Limits in 1997, the book became a New York Time bestseller.

Flynn’s 14th book, The Survivor, is scheduled to be published Oct. 8.

“It has been our distinct honor to publish Vince Flynn for the entire length of his career,” a release quoted Simon & Schuster President and CEO Carolyn Reidy. “As good as Vince was on the page—and he gave millions of readers countless hours of pleasure—he was even more engaging in person. He had a truly unique ability to make everyone—from those of us at Simon & Schuster who were fortunate to be part of his publication, to booksellers and retailers around the nation, and most of all, his readers, with whom he had a very close relationship—feel as if we were on his team and sharing in his life and his success. Yes, we will miss the Mitch Rapp stories that are classic modern thrillers, but we will miss Vince even more.”

The Star Tribune noted that Flynn was equally well known in Minnesota for his charitable work. He co-chaired a capital campaign—even after his cancer diagnoses—that raised $18 million for St. Thomas Academy.

In the video player above, watch an interview of Flynn that the University of St. Thomas posted Wednesday.