5 fun facts about Clive Cussler

You might recognise him as the author of epic action novels, but beyond his writing, there are many other reasons why fans of Clive Cussler remember him as an awesome man.

A man of many surprises, he dedicated his life equally to his passions as he did his writing. While you might assume that his novels are roughly based on historical events, what you might not suspect is that Cussler’s fiction also bled into his real life. While Clive Cussler passed away in 2020, his Oregon Files series lives on, with the next book in the series, Clive Cussler’s Fire Strike, coming out on 11 July 2023.  Read on to learn more about Clive Cussler and his incredible life before reading the book!

Fun facts about author Clive Cussler

1. Before his writing career, Clive Cussler was in the United States Air Force. According to The Guardian, he was ‘never a good student,’ so he dropped out of junior college and enlisted in the US Air Force, where he worked as a ‘mechanic and flight engineer during the Korean War.’
2. He created a non-profit group, the National Underwater Marine Agency (NUMA), based on the fictional government organisation that he wrote about. According to NUMA’s website, it is a ‘volunteer foundation dedicated to preserving our maritime heritage through the discovery, archaeological survey and conservation of shipwreck artifacts.’
3. Despite having dropped out of school at a young age, Cussler nevertheless received a PhD from the Maritime College at the State University of New York. According to NUMA, the Board of Governors accepted his non-fiction work, The Sea Hunters ‘in lieu of a PhD thesis,’ granting Cussler his degree in May 1997.
4. Cussler and his team of marine experts and NUMA volunteers discovered ‘over 60 historically significant underwater wreck sites.’ Their findings include several historically significant ships, including remains of the Carpathia, which ‘braved the icebergs to rescue the survivors of the Titanic.’
5. Clive Cussler was an avid car collector, and his collection is still on display at the Cussler Museum in Colorado, USA. Today, the museum showcases over 100 automobiles from the period of 1905-1965.  

Starting from the beginning? Check out all of the Oregon File books here.