Clive Cussler is a collector of automobiles and, like his character Dirk Pitt, lives a life of adventure discovering and collecting things of historical significance. He has a record of finding over 60 shipwrecks and has lead expeditions to gold mines. Cussler is the author of many adventure novels which titles include "Mediterranean Caper" (1973), "Night Probe" (1981), "Treasure" (1988), "Shock Wave" (1996), and "Atlantis Found" (1999). Cussler is the Chairman of NUMA (National Underwater & Marine Agency), a non-profit group which he himself began. He is also a fellow of the Explorers Club, which awarded him the Lowell Thomas Award for outstanding underwater exploration, the Royal Geographical Society and the American Society of Oceanographers.