Clive Cussler grew up in Alhambra, California. He attended
Pasadena City College for two years, then enlisted in the Air Force during the
Korean War and served as an aircraft mechanic and flight engineer in the
Military Air Transport Service. Upon discharge he became a copywriter and later
creative director at two of the nation's leading ad agencies. He wrote and
produced radio and television commercials in Hollywood that won numerous
international honors including an award at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
Cussler began writing novels in 1965 and published his first work featuring
his continuous series hero, Dirk Pitt, in 1973. His first non-fiction, The
Sea Hunters, was released in 1996. 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, 1997.
It was the first time since the College was founded in 1874 that such a degree
was bestowed.
Cussler is an internationally recognized authority on shipwrecks and the
founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, (NUMA) a 501C3 non-profit
organization (named after the fictional Federal agency in his novels) that
dedicates itself to preserving American maritime and naval history. He and his
crew of marine experts and NUMA volunteers have discovered more than 60
historically significant underwater wreck sites including the first submarine to
sink a ship in battle, the Confederacy's Hunley, and its victim, the
Union's Housatonic; the U-20, the U-boat that sank the
Lusitania; the Cumberland, which was sunk by the famous ironclad,
Merrimack; the renowned Confederate raider Florida; the Navy
airship, Akron, the Republic of Texas Navy warship, Zavala, found
under a parking lot in Galveston, and the Carpathia, which sank almost
six years to-the-day after plucking Titanic's survivors from the sea.
In September, 1998, NUMA - which turns over all artifacts to state and
Federal authorities, or donates them to museums and universities - launched its
own web site for those wishing more information about maritime history or
wishing to make donations to the organization. (http://www.numa.net/).
In addition to being the Chairman of NUMA, Cussler is also a fellow in both
the Explorers Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London. He
has been honored with the Lowell Thomas Award for outstanding underwater
exploration.
Cussler's books have been published in more than 40 languages in more than
100 countries and have a readership of more than 90 million avid fans. His past
international bestsellers include Pacific Vortex, Mediterranean Caper,
Iceberg, Raise the Titanic, Vixen 03, Night Probe, Deep Six, Cyclops, Treasure,
Dragon, Sahara, Inca Gold, Shock Wave, The Sea Hunters (non-fiction),
Flood Tide, and Clive Cussler Dirk Pitt® Revealed.
Cussler is also the author, with Paul Kemprecos, of the first in a new
Dirk Pitt spinoff series - The NUMA files.
Cussler was married to his wife, Barbara Knight, for more than 44
years. They have three children, two grandchildren. Regrettably, Barbara passed away in January 2003.
This biography was last updated on 03/01/2005.
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