About Clive Cussler
Dear Reader, Please allow me the honour and privilege of welcoming you to the website for my books in Australia. I have never considered myself as much a writer as an entertainer. I've sincerely felt that my job was to entertain you the reader in such a manner that when you reached the end of the book you felt that you had got your money's worth. |  |
When I created Dirk Pitt, Al Giordino and all their friends in the NUMA books and the characters in the other series I had no idea how many people I would eventually reach around the world. Even now I cannot express anything other than humility for being lucky enough to do so.
Pacific Vortex was the first book that introduced the main characters, Treasure of Khan the most recent. All of them were a figment of my imagination except for Al Giordino. He was based on an old Air Force buddy of mine who is still a good friend after almost fifty-five years. Throughout all the books, many beautiful women have come and gone until Dirk Pitt finally married Loren Smith, and many villains have been stopped from causing all kinds of mischief. Long may it continue!
My son, Dirk, and I dedicate ourselves to maintaining the quality and creativity for your reading pleasure.
BIOGRAPHY
Clive Cussler grew up in Alhambra, California. He later attended Pasadena City College for two years, but then enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War where he served as an aircraft mechanic and flight engineer in the Military Air Transport Service. Upon his discharge, he became a copywriter and later creative director for two leading ad agencies. At that time, he wrote and produced radio and television commercials that won numerous international awards, one at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
Cussler began writing in 1965 and published his first novel featuring Dirk Pitt® in 1973. His first non-fiction work, The Sea Hunters, was released in 1996. Because of this work the Board of Governors of the Maritime College, State University of New York considered The Sea Hunters in lieu of a Ph.D. thesis and awarded Cussler a Doctor of Letters degree in May of 1997. It was the first time since the College was founded in 1874 that such a degree was bestowed.
Cussler is the founder the National Underwater & Marine Agency, (NUMA) a non-profit organisation that dedicates itself to American maritime and naval history. Cussler and his crew of marine experts and NUMA volunteers have discovered over 60 historically significant underwater wreck sites. After verifying their finds, NUMA turns the rights to the artifacts over to non-profits, universities, or government entities all over the world. Some of these finds include the C.S.S. Hunley, best known as the first submarine to sink a ship in battle and the U-20, the U-boat that sank the Lusitania. In addition to being Chairman of NUMA, Cussler is a fellow in both the Explorers Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London.
A noted collector of classic automobiles, Cussler owns 85 of the finest examples of custom coachwork and 50's convertibles to be found anywhere. They are garaged near Golden, Colorado. Today, Cussler divides his time between the mountains of Colorado and the deserts of Arizona.
