Groves Academy Mourns Loss of Author Vince Flynn

Groves Academy is mourning the loss of author and former board member Vince Flynn, who died Wednesday after a battle with prostate cancer.

“Groves Academy has lost a true friend,” a release quoted John Alexander, the Groves Academy head of school. “Vince was a truly inspiring man. He had wonderful ideas and was very creative in his support of our students and school.”

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

But Flynn, who was on the Groves board from 2007 to 2010, also had a special connection to Groves Academy, which serves students with learning disabilities or attention disorders. Flynn was diagnosed with dyslexia in grade school and struggled with reading and writing all his life.

As the featured speaker at the 2007 Groves Gala, he said: “I was diagnosed with dyslexia in second grade and sent to the SLBP classroom which I though stood for ‘Slow learner, bad people.’ What I found out is that this is actually a gift if you know how to manage it. … George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Winston Churchill and George Patton all had learning disabilities. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. It’s a gift. … You don’t know this as a kid. I grew up on the outside looking in. What Groves is doing is creating, teaching and supporting kids who look at the world completely differently.”

He was a favorite with students because he understood their learning challenges. Many quoted him saying, “Sometimes you just have to suck it up.”

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. Flynn started thinking about his first book while seeking a medical waiver.

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.

“Vince had so much to share and was completely generous in sharing it,” the Groves release quoted Groves admissions director Debbie Moran.

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