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Clive Cussler

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Clive Cussler
Clive Cussler 2012
Clive Cussler 2012
BornClive Eric Cussler
(1931-07-15)July 15, 1931
Aurora, Illinois, U.S.
DiedFebruary 24, 2020(2020-02-24) (aged 88)
Paradise Valley, Arizona, U.S.
OccupationNovelist
Alma materPasadena City College
Period1973–2020
GenreAdventure
Notable works
  • Dirk Pitt series
  • Oregon Files series
  • NUMA Files series
  • Fargo Adventure series
  • Issac Bell Adventure series
Spouse
Barbara Knight
​
​
(m. 1955; died 2003)​


Children
Military Service
AllegianceUnited States
Service / branchUnited States Air Force
Years of service1950–1953
RankSergeant
Website
www.cusslerbooks.com

Clive Eric Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer.[1] His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have been listed on The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than 20 times. Cussler was the founder and chairman[2] of the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), which has discovered more than 60 shipwreck sites and numerous other notable underwater wrecks. He was the sole author or main author of more than 80 books. He often placed himself into his books as himself.

His novels have inspired various other works of fiction.

Early life

[edit]

Clive Cussler was born in Aurora, Illinois, the son of Eric Edward Cussler and Amy Adeline (née Hunnewell),[3] and grew up in Alhambra, California. His father was from Germany and his mother's ancestors were from England.[4]

In his memoir The Sea Hunters: True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks, Cussler revealed that his father served in the Imperial German Army on the Western Front during World War I. Furthermore, one of Cussler's uncles served in the Imperial German Air Service and became a flying ace, shooting down 14 Allied aeroplanes.[5]

He was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout when he was 14 years old.[6] He attended Pasadena City College[2] for two years and then enlisted in the United States Air Force during the Korean War.[7] During his service with the Air Force, he was promoted to sergeant and worked as an aircraft mechanic and flight engineer for the Military Air Transport Service (MATS).[8]

Career

[edit]

After his discharge from the military, Cussler went to work for the advertising industry, first as a copywriter and later as a creative director for two of the nation's most successful advertising agencies.[2] As part of his duties, Cussler produced radio and television commercials, many of which won international awards including an award at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.[9]

After the publication in 1996 of Cussler's first nonfiction work, The Sea Hunters, he was awarded a Doctor of Letters degree in 1997 by the Board of Governors of the State University of New York Maritime College who accepted the work in lieu of a Ph.D. thesis. This was the first time in the college's 123-year history that such a degree had been awarded.[2]

In 2002, Cussler was awarded the Naval Heritage Award from the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation for his efforts concerning marine exploration.[10]

Cussler was a fellow of the Explorers Club of New York, the Royal Geographical Society in London, and the American Society of Oceanographers.[11]

Literary career

[edit]

Clive Cussler began writing in 1965 when his wife took a job working nights for the local police department where they lived in California. After making dinner for the children and putting them to bed, he had no one to talk to and nothing much to do, so he decided to start writing.[12] His most famous character is marine engineer, government agent and adventurer Dirk Pitt. The Dirk Pitt novels frequently have an alternative history premise—such as "what if Atlantis were real?" or "what if Abraham Lincoln wasn't assassinated but was kidnapped?"[citation needed]

The first two Pitt novels, The Mediterranean Caper and Iceberg, were relatively conventional maritime thrillers. The third, Raise the Titanic!, made Cussler's reputation and established the pattern that subsequent Pitt novels would follow: a blend of adventure and advanced technology, generally involving megalomaniacal villains, lost ships, beautiful women, and sunken treasure.

Cussler's novels almost always begin with a chapter set in the past. These contain none of the novel's main characters and often seem disconnected from the plot until the main characters discover a mystery or secret relating the events of the first chapter to the rest of the story. This is almost always in the form of a long-lost artifact that is important to the villain's or hero's objectives. Often in the first chapter, a ship or airplane carrying a top-secret, important, or dangerous cargo is lost and never found, until it is recovered by a modern character later in the book.

Cussler's novels, like those of Michael Crichton, are examples of techno-thrillers that do not use military plots and settings. Where Crichton strove for scrupulous realism, however, Cussler prefers fantastic spectacles and outlandish plot devices. The Pitt novels, in particular, have the improbable quality of the James Bond or Indiana Jones movies, while also sometimes borrowing from Alistair MacLean's novels. Pitt himself is a super-hero reminiscent of Doc Savage and other characters from pulp magazines.

Cussler had seventeen consecutive titles listed on The New York Times fiction best seller list.[7] In 2014, McFarland Publishing released The Clive Cussler Adventures: A Critical Review by Steven Philip Jones, the first critical review textbook of Cussler's novels.[13]

NUMA

[edit]

As an underwater explorer, Cussler discovered more than 60 shipwreck sites[14] and wrote non-fiction books about his findings. He was also the initiator of the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), a non-profit organization with the same name as the fictional government agency that employs Dirk Pitt.

Important finds by NUMA include:

A visual and interactive depiction of Cussler's NUMA Foundation Expeditions has been made available as an extension of NUMA's original website that has since been deleted.

Finds formerly believed to be important include:

  • Mary Celeste, the famed ghost ship that was found abandoned with cargo intact (the identification of this wreck as the Mary Celeste has since been placed into a state of question after one researcher disputed the claim's authenticity).[15]

Adaptations

[edit]

Personal life

[edit]

Clive Cussler married Barbara Knight in 1955, and they remained married for nearly 50 years until her death in 2003.[17] Together they had three children—Teri, Dirk, and Dayna—four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

He was an avid car collector of classic automobiles that are on display at the Cussler Museum[18] in Arvada, Colorado. Clive Cussler was a part-time resident of both Arizona and Colorado.[19]

Cussler died at his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, on February 24, 2020, at age 88 of undisclosed causes.[20]

Bibliography

[edit]

Dirk Pitt Adventures

[edit]
 #  Title Publication date
1 The Mediterranean Caper 1973
2 Iceberg 1975
3 Raise the Titanic! 1976
4 Vixen 03 1978
5 Night Probe 1981
6 Pacific Vortex! 1983
7 Deep Six 1984
8 Cyclops 1986
9 Treasure 1988
10 Dragon 1990
11 Sahara 1992
12 Inca Gold 1994
13 Shock Wave 1996
14 Flood Tide 1997
15 Atlantis Found 1999
16 Valhalla Rising 2001
17 Trojan Odyssey 2003
18 Black Wind 2004
19 Treasure of Khan 2006
20 Arctic Drift 2008
21 Crescent Dawn 2010
22 Poseidon's Arrow 2012
23 Havana Storm 2014
24 Odessa Sea 2016
25 Celtic Empire 2019
26 Clive Cussler's The Devil's Sea 2021
27 Clive Cussler's The Corsican Shadow 2023

The NUMA Files

[edit]

This series of books is based on the character Kurt Austin, Team Leader of NUMA's Special Assignments division and his adventures. Some characters from the Pitt novels appear such as Sandecker, Al Giordino, Rudi Gunn, Hiram Yaeger and St. Julien Perlmutter. Pitt makes brief appearances in the books Serpent, White Death, Polar Shift, Devil's Gate, The Storm, Zero Hour, and Ghost Ship and is mentioned in Lost City. Juan Cabrillo, the captain of the ship Oregon, also made a brief appearance in The Pharaoh's Secret.

 #  Title Publication date
1 Serpent * 1999, Jun 1
2 Blue Gold * 2000, Aug 1
3 Fire Ice * 2002, Jun 3
4 White Death * 2003, Jun 23
5 Lost City * 2004, Jul 22
6 Polar Shift * 2005, Aug 30
7 The Navigator *   2007, Jun 5
8 Medusa * 2009, Jul 2
9 Devil's Gate † 2011, Nov 14
10 The Storm † 2012, May 29
11 Zero Hour † 2013, May 28
12 Ghost Ship † 2014, May 27
13 The Pharaoh's Secret † 2015, Nov 17
14 Nighthawk † 2017, Jun 19
15 The Rising Sea † 2018, Mar 13
16 Sea of Greed † 2018, Nov 6
17 Journey of the Pharaohs † 2020, Mar 10
18 Fast Ice † 2021, Mar 9
19 Clive Cussler's Dark Vector †† 2022, May 24
20 Clive Cussler's Condor's Fury †† 2023, Sept 5
21 Clive Cussler's Desolation Code †† 2024, Nov 17

The Oregon Files

[edit]

This series of books features a ship named the Oregon, which Cussler introduced in the Dirk Pitt Adventures novel Flood Tide (1997). While appearing to be a decrepit freighter, it is actually a high-tech advanced ship used by an unnamed and mysterious "Corporation" under the leadership of Juan Cabrillo. The ship is run like a business, with its crew being shareholders, taking jobs for the CIA and other agencies to help stop crime and terrorism. The crew is adept at disguises, combat, computer hacking and more to aid them in their missions. Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala, and Dirk Pitt all make cameo appearances in the fourth volume, Skeleton Coast (Cabrillo speaks to Pitt on the telephone; and Austin and Zavala appear at the end).

 #  Title Publication date
1 Golden Buddha 2003
2 Sacred Stone 2004
3 Dark Watch 2005
4 Skeleton Coast 2006
5 Plague Ship 2008
6 Corsair 2009
7 The Silent Sea 2010
8 The Jungle 2011
9 Mirage 2013
10 Piranha 2015
11 The Emperor's Revenge 2016
12 Typhoon Fury 2017
13 Shadow Tyrants 2018
14 Final Option 2019
15 Marauder 2020
16 Clive Cussler's Hellburner 2022
17 Clive Cussler's Fire Strike 2023
18 Clive Cussler's Ghost Soldier 2024

Isaac Bell Adventures

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These books are set mostly in the U.S. in the early part of the 20th century. They center around Isaac Bell, a brilliant investigator for the Van Dorn Detective Agency, which appears to be modeled after the real-life Pinkerton Agency. Like Pitt, Bell has an affinity for automobiles and is a crack shot. The first book reveals that Bell survives into 1950 with a wife and grown children. Though the setting is a century ago, the books still qualify as techno-thrillers, since they feature the advanced technology of that time such as private express trains, telegraphs, telephones, dreadnought battleships and early airplanes. Isaac Bell also is a principal character of the background story in the Fargo Adventures novel The Gray Ghost.

 #  Title Publication date
1 The Chase 2007
2 The Wrecker ‖ 2009
3 The Spy ‖ 2010
4 The Race ‖ 2011
5 The Thief ‖ 2012
6 The Striker ‖ 2013
7 The Bootlegger ‖ 2014
8 The Assassin‖ 2015
9 The Gangster ‖ 2016
10 The Cutthroat ‖ 2017
11 The Titanic Secret §   2019
12 The Saboteurs §   2021
13 Clive Cussler's The Sea Wolves §§   2022
14 Clive Cussler's The Heist §§   2024

Fargo Adventures

[edit]

The series focuses on Sam and Remi Fargo, a married couple who are professional treasure hunters.

 #  Title Publication date
1 Spartan Gold ^   2009
2 Lost Empire ^ 2010
3 The Kingdom ^ 2011
4 The Tombs + 2012
5 The Mayan Secrets + 2013
6 The Eye of Heaven × 2014
7 The Solomon Curse × 2015
8 Pirate ** 2016
9 The Romanov Ransom ** 2017
10 The Gray Ghost ** 2018
11 The Oracle ** 2019
12 Wrath of Poseidon ** 2020

Non-fiction

[edit]
Title Publication date
The Sea Hunters: True Adventures With Famous Shipwrecks ‡ 1996
Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed ‡ 1998
The Sea Hunters II: Diving the World's Seas for Famous Shipwrecks ‡ 2002
Built for Adventure: The Classic Automobiles of Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt 2011
Built to Thrill: More Classic Automobiles from Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt 2016

Children's books

[edit]
Title Publication date
The Adventures of Vin Fiz 2006
The Adventures of Hotsy Totsy 2010

(*) indicates books co-authored with Paul Kemprecos.
(†) indicates books co-authored with Graham Brown.
(††) indicates books authored by Graham Brown.
(‡) indicates books co-authored with Craig Dirgo.
(§) indicates books co-authored with Jack Du Brul.
(§§) indicates books authored by Jack Du Brul.
(‖) indicates books co-authored with Justin Scott.
(^) indicates books co-authored with Grant Blackwood.
(+) indicates books co-authored with Thomas Perry.
(×) indicates books co-authored with Russell Blake.
(≠) indicates books co-authored with Boyd Morrison.
(**) indicates books co-authored with Robin Burcell.
(***) indicates books authored by Robin Burcell.
(╛) indicates books authored by Mike Maden.

Awards

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Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
1974 Edgar Allan Poe Award Best Paperback Original The Mediterranean Caper Nominated
1992 Japan Adventure Fiction Association Prize - Sahara Won
2006 International Thriller Writers Awards "Thrillermaster" Award - Won

References

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  1. ^ Tall, Kevin (February 26, 2020). "Clive Cussler Dead, Bestselling Author Of 'Sahara' Dies At Age 88". Inquisitr. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "NUMA.Net Clive Cussler Biography". NUMA. Retrieved October 6, 2007.
  3. ^ Who's Who in Finance and Industry (19th ed.). Marquis Who's Who. 1975. p. 164. ISBN 9780837903194. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  4. ^ Cussler, Clive; Dirgo, Craig (October 1, 1998). Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780671026226 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Clive Cussler (1996),The Sea Hunters: True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks, pages 274-275.
  6. ^ Cussler, Clive; Dirgo, Craig (October 1998). Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-02622-4.
  7. ^ a b Cain, Sian (February 26, 2020). "Clive Cussler, bestselling adventure novelist, dies aged 88". The Guardian. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  8. ^ "Bestselling author Clive Cussler no more". The Times of India. February 27, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  9. ^ Arnold, Helen Ruth (December 1, 2017). "The historic novels, true adventures of Clive Cussler". McCook Gazette. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  10. ^ "Naval Heritage Award Recipients". The US Navy Memorial. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  11. ^ "Simon Says.com Clive Cussler Biography". Archived from the original (Web Article) on June 29, 2006. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
  12. ^ "Bookreporter.com Clive Cussler Biography" (Web Article). Retrieved February 22, 2007.
  13. ^ Ayers, Jeff (June 30, 2014). "The Clive Cussler Adventures: A Critical Review by Steven Philip Jones". The Big Thrill. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  14. ^ Cussler, Clive (October 26, 2004). Valhalla Rising. Berkley Trade. Inside dust jacket flap. ISBN 978-0-425-20404-7. 039914787X.
  15. ^ Jonathan Thompson (January 23, 2005). "Dating of wreck's timbers puts wind in sails of the 'Mary Celeste' mystery". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 14, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2009.
  16. ^ Glenn F. Bunting, $78 million of red ink?, Los Angeles Times, April 15, 2007.
  17. ^ "Clive Cussler Biography". TV.Com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
  18. ^ Cussler, Clive (2016). Built to Thrill. Putnam. p. 198.
  19. ^ "About the Author". Clive Cussler Books. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  20. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (February 26, 2020). "Clive Cussler, Best-Selling Author and Adventurer, Is Dead at 88". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
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