Obituary of Thomas Fletcher Epley

Thomas Epley, 73, died July 30 in Columbia SC from a heart attack. He was born October 8, 1940 in Salem, Massachusetts, and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1962. He joined the Air Force and after post graduate school, he served in Turkey, leaving the service in 1967. He was the press director at the Naval Institute Press from 1973 to 1990. During his time there, he published Tom Clancy's first novel, Hunt for Red October, and also Stephen Coonts' first novel, Flight of the Intruder. Both novels were made into movies. After leaving the Institute, he started his own publishing business. Most recently he had been living near his son in Columbia, SC. He is survived by his son Kevin Epley of South Carolina; brother; James Epley of Chiang Mai Thailand; and sister, Susan Stevenson of Texas; as well as nieces and nephews in the US and Thailand.