'Wind' signals shift in Cusslers
http://www.oregonlive.com/books/oregonian/...19571209090.xmlClive Cussler is passing the torch.
The author of the extraordinarily popular Dirk Pitt series of action-adventure novels is keeping the name where it has been all along -- in the family. Cussler gave his hero the same first name as his son, Dirk Cussler, and now he's turning the series over to Dirk Cussler. Father and son worked together on "Black Wind" (Putnam, $27.95, 530 pages), and the elder Cussler couldn't be happier.
"Dirk did extremely well -- better than me," Clive Cussler said from his home in Paradise Valley, Ariz.
And you're not just saying that?
"Well, maybe I am a little prejudiced," Cussler said, laughing. "But it's actually true. I asked Dirk to take a shot at writing. I helped him work out the plot and went over everything with him, but he did most of the writing himself, and I'm very pleased."
One mile away, at his home in Paradise Valley, Dirk Cussler sounded happy with the result and apprehensive about the reaction from his father's fans.
"This is a great opportunity for me, and I'm on pins and needles waiting to see what people think," Dirk Cussler said. "It was so much easier working with Clive. He's such a creative mind and knows so much about how to do this."
Clive Cussler has written 18 novels featuring Dirk Pitt and has launched two other series with co-authors. He's also led an active life away from the typewriter, founding the National Underwater and Marine Agency and leading expeditions that have resulted in significant historical discoveries, including the C.S.S. Hunley, the first submarine to sink a ship in battle. Cussler is a renowned collector of classic cars and often poses on the back cover of his books next to a mouth-watering car from his collection.
"He hasn't squandered his time, that's for sure," Dirk Cussler said. "He really is a kid at heart, and his hobbies -- the cars, the shipwrecks -- have been a big part of his life."
They've been a big part of Dirk Cussler's life, too, since his father gave his name to Dirk Pitt. ("I wanted something with one syllable," Clive Cussler said, "and I didn't want it to be Dirk Shag-Nasty or something like that.") Dirk Cussler grew up reading his father's work but got his MBA and "went the business route" before deciding to go into the family business. Clive Cussler, now 73, said the transition will be complete in another book or two, "And I'll be just an old has-been."
There is one cloud on the Dirk Pitt horizon. A big-budget movie based on Cussler's novel "Sahara," starring Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz has been made and is scheduled for release next spring. Cussler sued the producers, alleging that his contractual right of script approval was violated.
"I'm just waiting to see what kind of movie comes out," Cussler said. "It's no secret I sued the producers because they went right ahead without my approval. All I can say is I don't know whose book they adapted, but it wasn't mine."
Clive and Dirk Cussler will appear at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Barnes & Noble Vancouver, 7700 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd., Vancouver; and at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Powell's City of Books, 1005 W. Burnside St.