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JULY 15, 2009
Happy Birthday Mr. Cussler
Called ‘last Grand Master of the American action adventure novel,’ author and celebrity, Clive Cussler was born today, July 15, 1931. Of course, he has name recognition for me, although I have not (yet) read his work. However, since the name was so familiar and I could picture book covers, I did a brief search online – just out of curiosity. A simple search, name in quotes resulted in over 900,000 hits! But this is not the interesting part. As I started to investigate… wow. First, Mr. Cussler is very prolific. Since his first published work in 1965, he’s not only published fiction and non-fiction, but has over 50 books to his credits. Four co-authored books are scheduled for release in 2009: Corsair with Jack DuBrul (released in March) Medusa with Paul Kemprecos (released in June) Spartan Gold with Grant Blackwood (September) Wrecker with Justin Scott (November) Previous to his writing career he worked as a copywriter at an advertising agency, reaching the post of creative director. In this capacity he produced television and radio commercials, many of his commercials receiving international awards including the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival Award. His first non-fiction work, The Sea Hunters (1996) was accepted in lieu of a dissertation at the SUNY Maritime College and Cussler was awarded a Doctor of Letters degree in 1997. The first time in the college’s history for this to occur. Though for me, the most interesting thing about this dedicated author is that he is the founder of NUMA: The National Underwater and Marine Agency. As taken from the organization’s website: The National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) is a 501C3 non-profit, volunteer foundation dedicated to preserving our maritime heritage through the discovery, archaeological survey and conservation of shipwreck artifacts. Our purpose is also to reinforce public appreciation of our marine past, present and future by initiating and supporting projects designed to uncover and explore historically significant shipwrecks before they are lost and gone forever. Our goals include the protection of these historic sites through public information programs and to make available archaeological reports and data on technical expertise while perpetuating the names and legends of the sea-loving men and women who came before us. Through the work of NUMA over 60 historically significant underwater wreck sites have been discovered, including the C.S.S. Hunley, best known as the first submarine to sink a ship in battle; the Housatonic, the ship the Hunley sank; the U-20, the U-boat that sank the Lusitania; the Cumberland, sunk by the famous ironclad, Merrimack; the Confederate raider Florida; the Navy airship, Akron; the Republic of Texas Navy warship, Zavala, found under a parking lot in Galveston, Texas; and the remains of the Carpathia, the valiant ship that braved icebergs to rescue the survivor's of the Titanic. If you’d like to find out more about Mr. Cussler or read his work, you can find them @ the library! |
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