Clive Cussler was an acclaimed American adventure novelist, best known for his Dirk Pitt series. He was born on July 15, 1931, in Aurora, Illinois, and grew up in Alhambra, California. Cussler was a marine archaeologist, and his novels often featured shipwrecks, drawing from his own experiences and knowledge in this field. His novels have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List numerous times.
Cussler began writing novels in 1965 and published his first Dirk Pitt novel, "The Mediterranean Caper," in 1973. His first non-fiction book, "The Sea Hunters," was released in 1996. Cussler was an internationally recognized authority on shipwrecks and the founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving American maritime and naval history. He and his team of marine experts and NUMA volunteers 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.
Cussler was a fellow in both the Explorers Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London. He was honored with the Lowell Thomas Award for outstanding underwater exploration. His books have been published in more than 40 languages in more than 100 countries. Cussler lived in Arizona and wrote more than 80 books, including the Dirk Pitt series, the NUMA Files, and the Oregon Files. He passed away on February 24, 2020, at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona.