Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed

  It wasn't until Deep Six that I began displaying the cars depicted inthe books as driven by Dirk Pitt, when in fact they were owned by me.

  I thought, and still do, that readers would rather see the car while Istood in the background than some enhanced photo of my ugly mug takenwhen I was ten years younger. When they were doing the cover design forDragon, it occurred to me that since they were printing four colors onthe front of the jacket, it would cost them hardly any more to print theback photo in color because it would be on the same print run. Youlearn these things in advertising.

  To make certain the photo is first-rate quality, I've always had Denverphotographer Paul Peregrine shoot the photo, while Errol Beauchamp, whoowns a commercial art studio, does the overlays and has the type setthat reads, "Clive Cussler with Dirk Pitt's ... year and make of car."

  All the photos on all the jackets were shot on a lawn across the streetfrom my warehouse. On two occasions, we were lucky because it snowedthe night before, allowing the colors of the cars really to burst forth.I damn near got frostbite standing beside the cars for three hoursbecause I couldn't walk around and make footprints. As far as I know,I'm one of the few authors who oversee the print and layout of theirbook jackets.

  CRAIG DIRGO: Let's talk about your cars.

  CLIVE CUSSLER: I'm often asked if Pitt and I own thesame cars. In most cases, yes. In the earlier books, he drove aMaybach-Zeppelin and an AC Cobra, which I do not own. He also has aFord Trimotor aircraft and a Messerschmidt 262 jet fighter that I lack.

  Unlike Pitt, I own no airplanes. I tried to buy an old Ford Trimotorone time, but the elderly fellow who owned the aircraft wanted twomillion dollars for it, and I barely had enough to buy the landingwheels.

  Nor do I own an old aircraft hangar to store my car collection like DirkPitt. My cars are stored in a warehouse near Denver. They aremaintained by Keith Lowden and Ron Posey, who operate a restorationbusiness on one end of the building. The cars are taken out and drivenoccasionally, then stored with all gas and batteries removed.

  Beginning with Deep Six, I loaned Pitt the blue Talbot-Lago. I blewthis car up in the book and was amazed at the five letters I receivedasking if I really demolished the car. I assured the readers byanswering that the car was alive and well and living in a warehouse inColorado.

  I've been a car nut since I was eight and saw my first town car, a bodystyle where the chauffeur used to sit in the open while the passengerwas enclosed.

  The first car in my collection is a 1946 Ford Deluxe that my wifespotted for sale in the front yard of a farm during a Sunday drive.

  "Oh, look," she said, "there's a '46 club coupe like I had in highschool."

  I turned around and bought it, and my son, Dirk, and I restored it inthe street in front of our little house in Arvada, Colorado. I recallusing spray cans to primer the body.

  When I could afford it, I began collecting foreignclassics and American town cars. The classics, however, have become sohorribly expensive to restore because parts are all but extinct. Afterpaying sixteen hundred dollars for a twelve-cylinder Packard eneratorand another eight hundred dollars just to restore it, I beganconcentrating on the late-1950s convertibles. Those few short yearsbecame an era of huge cars with 300-horsepower engines and tons ofchrome, an era we'll never see again. They used to say that when youbought one of those big chrome barges, you received your own zip code.

  My day-to-day cars are a 1995 Jeep Cherokee in Colorado and a 1959Austin-Healey in Arizona.

  CRAIG DIRGO: So the car collection is one of your hobbies, and findingshipwrecks is the other?

  CLIVE CUSSLER: My interest in shipwrecks is another story that iscovered in The Sea Hunters, in which I tell the story of meeting an oldwharf rat in a waterfront saloon who told me, "If it ain't fun, it ain'tworth doing." My sentiments exactly, especially since my philosophy ofLIFE falls somewhere to the right of whoopee.

  CRAIG DIRGO: Let's get back to the books for a moment.

  CLIVE CUSSLER: I try very hard to make my books fun and different fromthose of other authors by introducing the elements of old cars,shipwrecks and, yes, even an old derelict like me. I wrote myself intoa brief scene in Dragon where Pitt and I meet at a classic car concourseWhen we are introduced to each other, I couldn't resist inserting a lineof dialogue when I look at him and say, "The name is familiar, but Ijust can't place the face." I wrote the interlude as a bit of fun,truly believing my editor,Michael Korda, was going to demand it be removed.

  When he left it in, I was surprised and asked him about it. He said, "Imust admit I found it unconventional, but knowing you as anunconventional guy, I thought, oh well, it's pure Cussler. , One timewas all I intended, but after receiving three hundred letters saying itwas great fun, I became a regular member of the cast. Pitt and I neverdo recall meeting in the previous stories. We both have lousy memories.

  CRAIG DIRGO: What do you like to read?

  CLIVE CUSSLER: I remember meeting James Michener when he was in Coloradowriting Centenniat The fellow who set up the luncheon, Mike Windsor, whoknew Michener during the war, asked him jokingly, "Have you read anygood books lately, Jim?"

  Michener smiled. "Actually, I don't read." Then he explained by sayingthat he had little time to read fiction, as most of his waking hourswere spent either in writing or research. Most writers have been there,done that. When you're in the middle of writing a book, it's almostimpossible to read another's tale of fiction. Authors are plagued bypeople who always ask if you've read so-and-so and seem puzzled when yousay no. They can't understand why we have no time for recreationalreading.

  The only fiction books I try to read in the evening rather than watch TVare review copies sent from agents and editors and written by new,first-time authors. I always try to give a newcomer a helping hand,even though I seriously doubt an endorsement from me would buy them acup of coffee.

  I did have the honor of writing an endorsement for Tom Clancy's firsteffort, The Hunt for Red October, and Stephen Coontz's Flight of theIntruder.

  Clancy called not long after his book hit the top of the best-seller listand asked what I thought of his idea to keep using Jack Ryan as acontinuing protagonist in his next novels. All I could tell him withany accuracy was that Dirk Pitt hadn't hurt me, and go for it.

  When it comes to writing, it's fun to be different and do things otherauthors wouldn't think of doing.

  Overseeing the book jackets, appearing in story lines, using plots thathaven't been used before, shying away from the old hackneyed story linesusing the nasty Russian KGB and Arab terrorists, old Nazi criminals, CIAconspiracies and military espionage. It's definitely more fun to beoriginal.

  I do admit to writing a vague formula.

  My first two books were basic potboilers, what I call formula A. This iswhere the readers walk beside the protagonist from chapter one to theend.

  In Iceberg, I began to drift into convoluted plots or what I callformula B. Now I have subplots going on that Pitt and Giordino are neveraware of, even at the end. Raise the Titanic! was really the Just inthe series where I had several plots going on at the same time.

  The trick is always to thread the needle at the end.

  I'm often amused by calls I receive from friends and relatives at allhours who are reading my latest book. The conversation usually goes,"You son of a bitch, I'm halfway through such-and-such a book, andthere's no way you're going to pull this off."

  Often it's not easy, but I never cheat the reader in the end. Myreaders mean everything to me. When writing, I frequently ask myself,"What would theylike to see at this point?" It's not easy getting inside the head ofthe public. I learned that in advertising.

  But you do develop a rapport after a time and know what it takes todeliver a fast-paced story that keeps the book in the hands of thereader at all hours.

  That's why I've always considered myself an entertainer more than awriter. Many writers try to cram their stories down their readers'throats. Others try to get their stories across on philosophy, on
theenvironment or anarchy in the streets of Copenhagen.

  I feel my job is to entertain the readers in such a manner that whenthey reach The End, they feel they got their money's worth. No message,no inspirational passages, no political ideology, just old-fashionedenjoyment.

  A Pitt book begins with a basic "what if' concept.

  For example, what if they raise the Titanic? Why?

  There is something of extreme interest on the wreck. Who could affordthe enormous salvage cost? The government. Why would the governmentspend the enormous amount of money required?

  They might to perfect a defense system. And so it goes.

  I like to create a historical prologue, sometimes even using two, suchas in Sahara. Then lead the reader through a myriad of plots thatusually involve four different sections that take place in differentlocations and using separate events. The trick is to wind them like acable toward what I call a successful conclusion. It soundscomplicated, but surprisingly the scenario unreels inside my head. Inever do an outline, never write more than one draft. For a guy whosewife sends him to the store for a loaf of bread and returns with a jarof pickles,it is truly amazing how I can juggle a multitude of characters andevents in my head. The hard part is visualizing ships exploding andsinking into the depths, volcanoes erupting and tidal waves sweepingover the South American jungle, and then translating the fantasy intothose little black letters on white paper Dirk Pitt has changed throughthe years. He's mellowed quite a bit. When we first started outtogether, we were both thirty-six. Now he's hovering near forty, andI'm sixty-seven. I tell you, it ain't fair. Fans and mediainterviewers often inquire if I'm Pitt. I originally made him my weightand height when I was younger. Six foot three and a hundred andeighty-five pounds. His eyes are greener than mine, and he certainlyattracts more ladies than I ever did. But then, he hasn't been in lovewith the same sweetheart for forty-three years, either. We've had othersimilarities. When I quit smoking years ago, Pitt quit smoking.

  When I went from drinking Cutty Sark scotch to Bombay Gin, so did he.

  When I developed a. taste for tequila, he followed right along. Isuppose there's more of me in Pitt than he cares to admit.

  He is named after my son, who came first. Just before Dirk was born, mywife and I fought like pit bulls over a name. She wanted Scott orGlenn, and I wanted Dirk or Kurt. As it turned out, Dirk was born latein the evening. In the morning, I was stepping out of the elevator witha vase of flowers as the nurse was walking past. She stopped uponrecognizing me, held up an official-looking piece of paper and said,"Oh, Mr. Cussler, I was just going into your wife's room to fill out thebirth certificate."

  I quickly grabbed the nurse by the arm, hustled her into the nearestoffice and filled in the birth certificate before my poor wife had achance. Good girl that she is, she let it slide, much to the delight ofmy son and my fans. I can't imagine Glenn Pitt.

  It sounds like a bottle of cheap scotch.

  CRAIG DIRGO: What about Pitt-any marriage plans?

  CLIVE CUSSLER: Will Pitt ever marry? Probably not. I find it hard toimagine Giordino coming to Pitt's house and asking his wife if Dirk cancome out and play. He's come close a couple of times. Two of the womenhe was in love with died in the last chapter.

  He asked Congresswoman Smith, but she turned him down. Pitt does nothave great luck with women.

  Loren Smith, by the way, came about in an unusual fashion. I wascasting for an important female character in Vixen 03. I had no problemcreating someone with style and elegance. Someone lovely with a quickmind and wit. My hang-up was her occupation. Pitt's women are neverharsh, stupid bimbos.

  They've all made it in the world and carry their own weight. A few dayspreviously, I had won an award from the Colorado Authors League forIceberg and now received a letter with the heading, "From the desk ofCongresswoman Patricia Schroeder." She wrote: "Dear Olive,congratulations on winning the best book award from the Colorado AuthorsLeague."

  All my life, I've been cursed by people unfamiliar with the name Clive,who think the C is an 0.

  Schroeder apparently thought I was a woman and sent her congratulatorynote. It had to be female bonding, because I didn't live in herdistrict. But atleast I had the occupation for Loren Smith, congresswoman from adistrict on Colorado's western slope.

  CRAIG DIRGO: When are they going to make another Dirk Pitt movie?

  CLIVE CUSSLER: People often wonder why I've never sold another book toHollywood. My response is, "Not after the way they botched up Raise theTitanic!" The screen writing was simply awful, the direction wasamateurish and even the editing was pathetic. Only John Barry's musicalscore and the special effects were first-rate. I'm not looking for ablockbuster motion picture, but I am hoping for a production of quality,more of a classic than a run of-the-mill car chase with special-effectsexplosions every five minutes.

  I recall seeing Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark a yearafter Raise the Titanic! came out in the theaters. I almost cried.

  The manner in which Spielberg produced a fast-paced, nail-bitingadventure was how I had envisioned the Pitt movie I never got. .

  Peter and I have had many, many offers, but the producers in Hollywoodare more interested in the art of the deal than the art of creating amovie with scope and depth. We've turned down many millions of dollarsbecause I refuse to cheat my readers with another sloppy production. Idon't need the money that badly. I wish to have scnpt and castingapproval, but from what I hear from the studio bosses, that'snonnegotiable. A number of actors have approached Peter about making adeal, but most of them are not my image of Dirk Pitt, or they are toowell known. If a big box-office star plays Dirk Pitt,you don't see Pitt, only the star. That's why I prefer an actor who isnot well known who can become Pitt, much like Sean Connery became JamesBond.

  None of the producers and studios gets it. They think any author wouldsell his soul to have his book made into a movie. Once was enough forme.

  Actors see a chance to increase their fans; producers look only at themoney angle. I've yet to be contacted by a director who has read thebooks, enjoyed them and asked to sit down with me and discuss how amovie on Pitt should be made. Not a likely event, considering the egosin Tinsel town, but who's to say? Someday someone will come along andsell me. But until then, I'll keep writing about Dirk Pitt, Al Giordinoand the NUMA gang and be happy in my ignorance.

  CRAIG DIRGO: Tell us about what your life is like now.

  CLIVE CUSSLER: Teri raised a family and gave us two terrificgrandchildren. Dirk received his master's degree and works as afinancial analyst in Phoenix.

  Dana moved to Los Angeles, where she works in the movies. Years ago,the family began spending time in Arizona when Barbara, Dirk and I beganattending the classic car auctions promoted by Barrett/Jackson and theKruse brothers. After Dirk entered Arizona State University at Tempe,we bought a condo in Scottsdale to enjoy the warmer climate during theColorado winters. Always wanting a Southwestern adobe home, I lookedfor two years before I finally found one that reached out and grabbedme. It was slightly run-down, so we remodeled and landscaped the yard,and I built an office off to one side of the house, where I have mylibrary, the ship models by Fred Tourneau and marine paintings byRichard DeRosset of the ships NUMA has discovered over the years.

  This has become my domain. I furnished the house in Southwesternfurniture and Mexican folk art. When people visit, I'm often asked whodid the interior decorating. They seem genuinely surprised when I sayit was me. They can't believe that a fiction writer has taste or thatmy wife didn't have a strong hand in it.

  Barbara did, however, get her day in court. For her domain, she built abeautiful log house in Telluride surrounded by aspens with an incredibleview of the San Juan Mountains. Here I had no say except for structuralconversations with the contractor.

  The home is entirely hers from the bottom floor to the top of thechimneys, comfortable, warm and cozy. We have the best of both worlds,spending summers in Colorado and winters in Arizona.

  Which
brings me to one of the most frequent questions I'm asked: How cansomeone who writes sea stories live in the mountains and the desert? Theanswer is that-I get my fix by working on the water searching forshipwrecks at least one month out of the year.

  CRAIG DiRGo: One last question. What's the best comment you've everreceived on the books?

  CLIVE CUSSLER: In the words of a lady journalist who did a review ofInca Gold, "Loren Smith is the woman we all want to be, and Dirk Pitt isthe man we all want."

  The bottom line is that readers of all ages and both genders enjoy Pittbecause there is a little of him in all of us.

  The Clive Cussler Car Collection

  1. 1918 Cadillac touring with dualwindshields and V-8 engine. Body by Harley Earle. Once owned by FloZiegfeld and Billie Burke.