When Clive Cussler decided to try his hand at writing, he simply hoped for a lifestyle that would allow him and his family to travel. He had no idea he was creating a legacy that his children and grandchildren would carry on.
Clive is a well-known author who spent much of his life working and living in Arvada. He’s written close to 80 novels, but is primarily recognized for his popular book series featuring the adventures of fictional underwater explorer, Dirk Pitt.
Clive searched for his niche for a long time — a couple of years in the United States Air Force, a few more years running a gas station off the coast of southern California and several years as a creative director in the advertising industry.
“When I decided I wanted to do something else, I thought, ‘Well I’ve never written a book before,’ ” Clive said. Dirk Pitt was born in a moment of inspiration, and more than 40 years later the series consists of 25 novels with no foreseeable plans of stopping.
Though Clive is now 85 years old, his son Dirk Cussler — the namesake of the series’ protagonist — will continue his father’s work.
“I saw it as a big responsibility because he had built up such a large fanbase and there were a lot of expectations,” 55-year-old Dirk said. “I worked in finance for many years, so this was a major career change. It wasn’t a career I’d planned on, but itap been very rewarding.”
And Clive has been nothing short of impressed by his son. “He’s become a great writer,” Clive said. “The books are all bestsellers.”
Dirk started by assisting his father as a co-writer after demand for the books became too much for one person. In the past several years, the father and son have begun to transition roles as Clive takes a step back and allows Dirk to take over. Their newest book, the 25th in the Dirk Pitt series, titled “Odessa Sea” was released Nov. 15.
Once Clive grew accustomed to the flexible work hours of an author, he pursued other lifelong passions, one of which was collecting vintage cars.
“I was driving by an auto auction one day, and they were auctioning off a beautiful Hispano-Suiza,” he said. “I started bidding even though I hadn’t even signed up with the officials. The last bid was $50,000 and it was mine. And I thought, ‘My God, what have I done? I’ve never spent more than $500 in my life.’ That was the first one.”
Though the collection began as a hobby in a warehouse, by 2005 the collection had grown to roughly 70 cars, and his daughter, Teri Cussler, suggested he share it with the public. Today the same warehouse functions as the Cussler Museum and houses about 120 rare, vintage cars that are on display May through September. Teri, 58, and her two children, both in their thirties, now run the museum.
In an attempt to keep record of all the cars, Clive and his other daughter, Dayna Cussler, who works as a freelance photographer in Los Angeles, collaborated to produce two coffee table books featuring photographs and details of each of Clive’s cars. The first book, “Built for Adventure,” was published in 2012 and exhibits cars in the museum from 1930-40s. Its sequel, “Built to Thrill,” features the 1950-60s cars, and was published in October.
In 1979 Clive founded the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) which is a nonprofit, volunteer-based organization that is dedicated to the discovery and preservation of historical shipwrecks — another passion of Clive’s.
“I’d heard about a shipwreck that was never found — John Paul Jones’ Bonhomme Richard,” Clive said. “So I thought, ‘well, I’ll go look for it.’ ” NUMA has since assisted in locating dozens of missing shipwrecks.
“Itap a historic agency,” Clive said. “People think I’m crazy because we’ve never looked for treasure. When we find a ship we turn it over to the state or federal government. Itap purely historical. I’ve never made a dime on any of it.”
With the help from Clive’s kids, there are no plans to end NUMA, the Cussler Museum or Dirk Pitt.
“I think itap great that we’re all still doing this,” Dayna said. “Itap amazing we all have our hands in part of this. Itap not like we have to do this because dad said so, we all just want to keep his legacy going because we love him so much.”
While the Cussler Museum is officially closed for the 2016 season, Saturday from 1-4 p.m. Dayna and Dirk will be at the museum, 14959 W. 69th Ave., Arvada, signing the recently released “Built to Thrill” and “Odessa Sea.” Admission is free and other books will be available for purchase.