The American author Clive Eric Cussler was born on 15/06/1931 in Aurora, Illinois. His father, Eric Cussler, had immigrated after World War II in the United States and met his future wife during a dance. His mother, Amy, and father met in 1929 at a dance club. Almost 1 year before his birth, his parents were married.

In 1937, Clive Cussler was just 6 years old at the time, the child almost died from pneumonia. Due to the better climate, the family moved to Alabama, then to the U.S. state of California. The family remained in the city until the end of the school period.

Two years after Clive Cussler had registered for, he joined the U.S. Air Force and was employed as an aircraft engineer and pilot in the Korean War.

After retiring from active service, he married his wife, Barbara Knight, whom he had met shortly before the end of war. In the following years Cussler changed his profession. First, he had a gas station and then worked as advertising manager of a supermarket. He then moved into advertising, where he wrote Hollywood campaigns for radio and television commercials. These campaigns received many international awards and have been awarded during the Cannes Film Festival.

In 1963 Clive Cussler began his career as a writer, the first novel, The Death Flyer with his series hero Dirk Pitt, however, appeared in 1973. Three years later, the book Raise the Titanic became a best seller.

Clive Cussler novels are mostly set against a historical background, which in the course of the book plays an essential role. The author builds on this background. His books are a mix of adventure novels and technology thrillers. A mixture that is pleasing to readers worldwide, as Clive Cussler has written 16 New York Times best-selling sequentially, which translates into more than 40 languages ??and more than 125 million sold copies in more than 100 countries.

A large role in Clive Cussler books plays the NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency), which he founded in 1979 as a non-profit organization. The goal of the NUMA is to take care of underwater and marine history. The tasks of the NUMA include discovery, archaeological research, conservation and preservation of shipwrecks. NUMA has catalogued over 60 historically significant locations and wrecks. This includes C.S.S. Hunley, the first submarine sinking an enemy ship in battle of the American Civil War. The rights are not NUMA’s alone, but also belong to universities and governments.

There are always autobiographical elements in Clive Cussler's books, such as

Clive Cussler named his hero after his, then still very young, son, Dirk Pitt.

The foundation of the NUMA was in 1979, when it already existed in his books.

Just like Clive Cussler his alter ego, Dirk Pitt, also collects classic cars.

In the books, the name Leigh Hunt keeps popping up. This is a good friend of Clive Cussler.

In one of the books appears a Barbara Knight, the maiden name of Cussler’s deceased wife.

Also, Al Giordino, Dirk Pitt's best friend and comrade in arms really exists. This too is a friend of Clive Cussler.

In one of the books appears one Robert Bob Esbenson. This person also exists and Cussler’s vintage shop partner.

Teri Till is a character in a book - and is named after Cussler eldest daughter Teri.

Likewise, the character Dana Seagram was named after the second daughter Dayna Cussler.

Out of the FBI employees, director Charles Davis is really alive and is also a friend of Cussler.

Dirk Pitt's birthplace is Newport Beach in California, where Cussler wrote the first two novels about Dirk Pitt.

Clive Cussler in His Books

Clive Cussler attaches himself to the books in the form of a very small supporting role. Initially intended as a joke, the idea was enthusiastically received by the fans, which meant that Cussler traditionally shows up in many of his own books. Dirk Pitt always thinks that he knows this Clive Cussler from somewhere, but he can’t put his finger on it.

Here are some examples:

In the book Sahara, Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino meet Clive Cassler, "The Kid", who states that is a gold hunter looking for a shipwreck.

In the book Inca Gold, he owns a pub named "Box Car Cafe", opened in an old saloon car.

In The Sign of the Vikings, Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino swim in the sea and are rescued by Clive Cussler, who comes straight with his catamaran.

In Black Wind, Cussler saves Dirk Pitt's son and his sister with his Chinese junk.

In the book Treasure of Khan, Cussler plays a school bus driver who gives Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino a ride.

In one of the books, Cussler is even standing right in front of Pitt's hangar to see his classic car collection. These are just some examples of how the author knows how to act as a small supporting role in his books.

The book Raise the Titanic! was filmed in 1980 with Jason Robards, Anne Archer and Alec Guiness. It failed, however, and finished second in the list of the worst films of all time. Many years later, however, Cussler signed a contract in which a production company secured the rights to all the Dirk Pitt novels.

Since 1998 Clive Cussler spends the winters on his property in Paradise Valley in the U.S. state. For the remainder of the year, he still owns an estate in Telluride, Colorado. In 2003, his wife, Barbara, died after 48 years of marriage.

Awards

Clive Cussler has received the Lowell Thomas Award for outstanding underwater exploration. For the non-fiction The Sea Hunters, he received the "Doctor of Letters" from the State University of New York, and in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the genre he received The International Thriller Award in 2006.

The Adventures of Dirk Pitt

Pacific Vortex! (1983)

The Mediterranean Caper

Iceberg (1975)

Raise the Titanic! (1976)

Vixen 03 (1978)

Night Probe! (1981)

Deep Six (1984)

Cyclops (1986)

Treasure (1988)

Dragon (1990)

Sahara (1992)

Inca Gold (1994)

Shock Wave (1996)

Flood Tide (1997)

Atlantis Found (1999)

Valhalla Rising (2001)

Trojan Odyssey (2003)

Black Wind (2004)

Treasure of Khan (2006)

Arctic Drift (2008)