Career Clive Cussler

1 career

1.1 literary career
1.2 numa
1.3 media appearances

career

after discharge military, cussler went work in advertising industry, first copywriter , later creative director 2 of nation s successful advertising agencies. part of duties cussler produced radio , television commercials, many of won international awards including award @ cannes lions international advertising festival.

following publication in 1996 of cussler s first nonfiction work, sea hunters, awarded doctor of letters degree in 1997 board of governors of state university of new york maritime college accepted work in lieu of ph.d. thesis. first time in college s 123-year history such degree had been awarded.

in 2002 cussler awarded naval heritage award u s navy memorial foundation efforts in area of marine exploration.

cussler fellow of explorers club of new york, royal geographic society in london, , american society of oceanographers.

literary career

clive cussler began writing in 1965 when wife took job working nights local police department lived in california. after making dinner children , putting them bed, had no 1 talk , nothing do, decided start writing. famous creation marine engineer, government agent , adventurer dirk pitt. dirk pitt novels take on alternative history perspective, such if atlantis real? or if abraham lincoln wasn t assassinated, kidnapped?

the first 2 pitt novels, mediterranean caper , iceberg, relatively conventional maritime thrillers. third, raise titanic!, made cussler s reputation , established pattern subsequent pitt novels follow: blend of high adventure , high technology, involving megalomaniacal villains, lost ships, beautiful women, , sunken treasure.

cussler s novels begin chapter taking place in past. these contain none of novel s main characters , seem disconnected plot until main characters discover mystery or secret connecting events in first chapter rest of story. comes in form of long-lost artifact holds key villain s or hero s objectives. in first chapter, ship or plane carrying top-secret, important, or dangerous cargo lost , never found, until recovered modern character later in book.

cussler s novels, of michael crichton, examples of techno-thrillers not use military plots , settings. crichton strove scrupulous realism, however, cussler prefers fantastic spectacles , outlandish plot devices. pitt novels, in particular, have anything-goes quality of james bond or indiana jones movies, while borrowing alistair maclean s novels. pitt himself larger-than-life hero reminiscent of doc savage , other characters pulp magazines.

cussler has had more seventeen consecutive titles reach new york times fiction best-seller list.

numa

as underwater explorer, cussler has discovered more sixty shipwreck sites , has written non-fiction books findings. founder of national underwater , marine agency (numa), non-profit organization same name fictional government agency employs dirk pitt. cussler owns large collection of classic cars, several of (driven pitt) appear in novels.

important finds cussler s n.u.m.a. include

the carpathia. ship famed being first come aid of titanic survivors.
the mary celeste. famed ghost ship found abandoned cargo intact. (the identification of wreck mary celeste has since been placed state of question after 1 researcher disputed claim s authenticity.)


the manassas. first ironclad of civil war, formerly icebreaker enoch train.
the h. l. hunley. first submarine sink enemy vessel - during american civil war.

a visual , interactive depiction of cussler s numa foundation expeditions has been made available extension of numa s original website.

media appearances

in started joke in novel dragon cussler expected editor remove, writes himself books. @ first wrote himself simple cameos, later of deus ex machina, providing novel s protagonists essential bit of assistance or information. often, character given alias , not revealed cussler until exit characters remarking on odd name. cameos include pitt adventures, fargo files books lost empire, spartan gold, kingdom, , tombs had cussler making appearance. tombs includes wife, janet.

there @ least 2 other types of recurring in-jokes less obvious casual reader. 1 frequent reuse of name leigh hunt different characters in different novels. seventeen books have had character name, in opening prologues, sailor, dying; notable exception first (in chronological order) dirk pitt adventure, pacific vortex, in admiral leigh hunter major character, commander of 101st recovery fleet in hawaii. in introduction arctic drift, cussler says there real leigh hunt died in 2007 , novel dedicated him. significant events in several novels occur on july 15 (cussler s birthday). uses name periwinkle in works. in adventures of vin fiz (and in other works well) there appears donkey named periwinkle. in valhalla rising, periwinkle name of catamaran in pitt, giordino, , misty graham rescued none other mr. cussler himself. cussler s friend craig dirgo mentioned in several books.