Editing Dirk Pitt

{{short description|Fictional character in novels by American writer Clive Cussler}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2010}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Dirk Pitt
| franchise = Dirk Pitt adventure novels
| image = 
| caption = 
| first = ''The Mediterranean Caper''
| last = ''Clive Cussler's The Devil's Sea''
| gender = Male
| full_name = Dirk Eric Pitt
| occupation = In early novels: Director, Special Projects, National Underwater and Marine Agency.<br/> Later: Director, National Underwater and Marine Agency
| position = [[major]] in [[United_States_Air_Force|USAF]]
| weapon = [[Colt's Manufacturing Company|Colt]] .45-caliber [[M1911]]
| spouse = Congresswoman Loren Smith
| children = Dirk Pitt Jr.<br>Summer Pitt
| relatives = Senator George Pitt (father)<br>Barbara Susan Pitt (née Nash) (mother)<br>Percival Nash (maternal uncle)<br>unnamed paternal uncle<br>unnamed grandfather
| nationality = {{United States}}
| significant_others = Summer Moran, Maeve Fletcher
| portrayer = [[Richard Jordan]], [[Matthew McConaughey]]
| voice = [[Scott Brick]]
| creator = [[Clive Cussler]]
}}

'''Dirk Pitt''' is a fictional character created by American novelist [[Clive Cussler]] and featured in a series of novels published from 1976 to 2021. Pitt is a larger-than-life hero reminiscent of [[pulp magazine]] icon [[Doc Savage]]. Pitt is a citizen of the United States, on loan from the [[United States Air Force]] with the rank of Major, after serving in the [[Vietnam War]] as a pilot. He manages to find adventure with his childhood best friend, Al Giordino, despite ending up with an ostensibly desk-bound role as the head of the [[National Underwater and Marine Agency]]. Pitt has a commanding presence, a quick wit, and a considerable collection of [[classic car]]s.

==Biography and career==
Dirk Eric Pitt, renowned adventurer, is the son of Senator George Pitt of [[California]]. Dirk graduates from the [[United States Air Force Academy]] and serves as a pilot in the United States Air Force during the [[Vietnam War]]. Dirk is an accomplished pilot who is qualified to fly both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. He goes on to attain the rank of [[Major (rank)|major]]. Over the course of his service, Pitt is awarded the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] with two clusters, a [[Silver Star]], a [[Purple Heart]] and many other commendations.<ref>See ''Pacific Vortex!'' page 77 (reprinted in hardcover by Cahill Press in 2000).</ref>

Dirk Pitt receives one such commendation for shooting down the plane of Admiral James Sandecker. The plane was carrying the Admiral and his staff to a remote base north of [[Da Nang]]. Unknown to them, the base was overrun by the North Vietnamese and their radio was malfunctioning, so they were unable to receive a warning. Pitt was flying nearby returning to his base from a bombing mission and was ordered to intercept and alert the admiral by whatever means available. When efforts to communicate with the Admiral's plane were unsuccessful, Pitt expertly shot out both engines on the transport, forcing them to ditch in the sea instead of landing at the captured base. Dirk then flew cover, strafing any boats that left the shore, until everyone was taken aboard a navy patrol vessel.<ref>Cussler, Clive (1985). ''Deep Six'', New York: Simon & Schuster. 0-671-50373-1; pages 337 and 338.</ref> Cussler derived this story as well as some of Pitt's awards from the real life [[World War II]] veteran [[Louis Edward Curdes]].

Dirk's service record is amended in the film versions of ''[[Raise the Titanic (film)|Raise the Titanic]]'' and ''[[Sahara (2005 movie)|Sahara]]'', where he is said to have graduated from the [[United States Naval Academy|U.S. Naval Academy]]. In both versions, Dirk graduates with his childhood best friend, Al Giordino.

After leaving the service, Dirk works as a [[Ocean|marine]] [[engineer]] for the [[National Underwater and Marine Agency#The fictional NUMA|National Underwater and Marine Agency]] (NUMA), an [[oceanographic]] research organization headed by Admiral James Sandecker. In his career at NUMA, Dirk makes numerous shipwreck discoveries and thwarts countless plans by [[villain]]s intent on [[global catastrophe]] or [[Hegemony|world domination]].

In recent novels, Dirk becomes the head of NUMA, succeeding Admiral Sandecker when the latter is appointed [[Vice President of the United States]] after the sudden death in office of his predecessor. Despite his promotion, Pitt is uncomfortable with a desk job, and still heads numerous projects in the field, becoming entangled in villainous plots just as easily as before his promotion.

== Personal traits ==
Dirk is 6&nbsp;ft 3 in (190.5&nbsp;cm) tall with craggy looks, dark wavy hair, and a rangy build. Cussler refers often to Dirk's "opaline green eyes", which can be both alluring or intimidating, as need be. Pitt has a commanding presence which, combined with a quick, sly wit, often infuriates his adversaries and superiors. Comical banter with Al is especially common during stressful situations, leaving the reader with little doubt that both are confident in their abilities.

His weapon of choice is a Colt .45-caliber [[M1911]] semi-automatic pistol that he received from his father. His drink of choice is [[blue agave]] [[Tequila]]. Dirk believes that quality tequila should be drunk straight with salt and lime, preferring to use cheaper tequila in [[margaritas]]. He wears an orange-faced [[Doxa S.A.|Doxa]] Sub 300T Professional dive watch.

=== Classic car collection ===
When Dirk Pitt is not traveling, he lives in a remodeled and refurbished hangar on the grounds of [[Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport|Washington National Airport]], near [[Washington, D.C.]] A cast-iron stairway leads into a cluttered apartment with maps of the sea and models of ships scattered all about. The hangar houses his substantial collection of [[Classic car|classic]] and [[Antique car|antique]] cars, as well as a [[Messerschmitt Me 262]] aircraft, a [[Ford trimotor]] aircraft, a [[Pullman Company|Pullman]] railroad dining car, and a [[totem pole]]. The hangar also contains items collected from prior adventures, such as a cast-iron bathtub with an outboard motor fixed to one end, and is protected by a state-of-the-art [[security system]]. Pitt occasionally adds classic cars to his collection, purloined from a variety of antagonists over the course of his adventures. The character shares his affinity for cars with his creator, the author Clive Cussler. Relatedly, Pitt is named after [[Dirk Cussler]], Clive's son and sometime co-writer of the Dirk Pitt adventure stories.

== Love interests and family ==
Throughout his life, there are three women of significance: 

* Summer Moran (''[[Pacific Vortex!]], [[Valhalla Rising (book)|Valhalla Rising]])''
* Maeve Fletcher (''[[Shock Wave (novel)|Shock Wave]]'')
* Loren Smith (''[[Vixen 03]], [[Havana Storm]]'')

=== Summer Moran ===
{{Infobox character
| name = Summer Moran
| first = [[Pacific Vortex!]]
| last = [[Valhalla Rising (novel)|Valhalla Rising]]
| children = [[Dirk Pitt Jr.]]<br>
[[Summer Pitt]]
| relatives = Father: Delphi Moran.<br>
Grandfather: Dr. Frederick Moran.
| nationality = {{United States}}
| significant_others = Dirk Pitt
| creator = [[Clive Cussler]]
}}Dirk first meets Summer at  Royal Hawaiian Hotel, when she is trying to seduce him where Dirk feels an instant attraction to her, and later tries to assassinate him. 

She rescues Dirk Pitt from peril by swiftly severing the rope tethering his hands, deftly slipping a knife into his grasp just in time to thwart her father's men from orchestrating his demise in his hotel room. 

Summer is the mother of his twin children, Dirk Pitt Jr. and Summer Pitt. She is often described as Pitt's first real love. The daughter of deranged scientist Frederick Moran, she is believed dead by Pitt when she is lost during an attempt to rescue her father as his underwater lair collapses. As revealed by 23-year-old Dirk Pitt Jr. when the two meet at the end of the novel ''[[Valhalla Rising (book)|Valhalla Rising]]'', Summer in fact survives, badly maimed by the incident, and refuses to seek him out because she wants Pitt to remember her as he knew her. She gives birth to the twins shortly thereafter and raises them, naming them after their parents.

=== Maeve Fletcher ===
Dirk meets Maeve Fletcher in ''[[Shock Wave (novel)|Shock Wave]]''. Like Summer, she is also the daughter of a deranged, ruthless villain. However, she refuses to have any part in her family's dealings or with her father, the villain Arthur Dorsett. Maeve is the single mother of two children, who she raises on her salary as a tour guide aboard a cruise in the Antarctic when she and Pitt first meet. She holds a master's degree in zoology. Maeve and Dirk pledge their deepest love for each other, but unfortunately Maeve is already fatally wounded, and she dies in Pitt's arms.

=== Loren Smith ===
Pitt has a long-term relationship with Congresswoman Loren Smith, whom he marries before the book ''[[Havana Storm]]''.


==Cars of Dirk Pitt==
[[File:MaybachZeppelinDS8.JPG|thumb|240px|A 1936 Maybach Zeppelin was featured in ''The Mediterranean Caper'']]
* ''The Mediterranean Caper'' - 1936 [[Maybach#Models|Maybach Zeppelin Town car]]
* ''Iceberg'' - (no car, but Pitt acquires the [[Ford Trimotor]] aircraft)
* ''Raise the Titanic!'' - (no car, but reference to a [[Stutz Bearcat]] Speedster, and a [[Renault]] town car recovered from the ''[[RMS Titanic|Titanic]]'' is mentioned in ''Vixen 03''. A [[Rover Company]] vehicle, the model of which is unknown, but due to the year mentioned, 1987, it is either a [[Rover SD1]] or [[Rover 800]]. The Ford Trimotor is also mentioned.)
* ''Vixen 03'' - 1912 Renault open-drive landaulette
* ''Night Probe!'' - [[AC Cobra]] and [[Jensen Motors#Sports cars|Jensen]] (also a [[Pullman (car or coach)|Pullman]] railroad dining car)
* ''Pacific Vortex!'' - [[AC Cobra]]
* ''Deep Six'' - [[Talbot-Lago]]
* ''Cyclops'' - Daimler DE36, 1957 Chevrolet (also a cast iron bathtub with an outboard motor strapped to it)
* ''Treasure'' - [[Cord Automobile#Cord L-29|Cord L-29]]
* ''Dragon'' - 1932 [[Stutz]] (also acquires a [[Messerschmitt Me 262]])
* ''Sahara'' - 1936 [[Avions Voisin]]
* ''Inca Gold'' - 1936 [[Pierce-Arrow#1933 Silver Arrow and the end of the line|Pierce-Arrow Travelodge Trailer]]
* ''Shock Wave'' - [[Allard Motor Company#J2X|Allard J2X]] (also a totem pole and Marvelous Maeve, a beatup boat)
* ''Flood Tide'' - 1929 Model J [[Duesenberg]]
* ''Atlantis Found'' - 1936 Ford Hot Rod
* ''Valhalla Rising'' - 1938 [[Packard]] Towncar
* ''Trojan Odyssey'' - [[Marmon Motor Car Company|Marmon]] V-16
* ''Black Wind'' - 1958 [[Chrysler 300 letter series#1958 300D|Chrysler 300-D]] Convertible
* ''Treasure of Khan'' - 1921 [[Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost]]
* ''Arctic Drift'' - 1932 [[Auburn Automobile|Auburn]] V-12
* ''Crescent Dawn'' - 1948 [[Delahaye 135]]
* ''Poseidon's Arrow'' - 1930 Packard 734 Speedster Runabout

==List of novels and films==
Dirk Pitt adventure novels
# ''[[Pacific Vortex!]]'' (1983) - Written by Clive Cussler (though released at a later date, this is the first book that was written)
# ''[[The Mediterranean Caper]]'' (a.k.a. ''Mayday'', 1973)
# ''[[Iceberg (Cussler novel)|Iceberg]]'' (1975)
# ''[[Raise the Titanic!]]'' (1976)
# ''[[Vixen 03]]'' (1978)
# ''[[Night Probe!]]'' (1981)
# ''[[Deep Six (Clive Cussler novel)|Deep Six]]'' (1984)
# ''[[Cyclops (Clive Cussler novel)|Cyclops]]'' (1986)
# ''[[Treasure (Clive Cussler novel)|Treasure]]'' (1988)
# ''[[Dragon (Clive Cussler novel)|Dragon]]'' (1990)
# ''[[Sahara (novel)|Sahara]]'' (1992)
# ''[[Inca Gold]]'' (1994)
# ''[[Shock Wave (novel)|Shock Wave]]'' (1996)
# ''[[Flood Tide (novel)|Flood Tide]]'' (1997)
# ''[[Atlantis Found]]'' (1999)
# ''[[Valhalla Rising (novel)|Valhalla Rising]]'' (2001)
# ''[[Trojan Odyssey]]'' (2003)
# ''[[Black Wind (Dirk Pitt novel)|Black Wind]]'' (2004) - Written with son [[Dirk Cussler]]
# ''[[Treasure of Khan]]'' (2006) - Written with son [[Dirk Cussler]]
# ''[[Arctic Drift]]'' (2008) - Written with son [[Dirk Cussler]]
# ''[[Crescent Dawn]]'' (2010) - Written with son [[Dirk Cussler]]
# ''[[Poseidon's Arrow]]'' (2012) - Written with son [[Dirk Cussler]]
# ''[[Havana Storm]]'' (2014) - Written with son [[Dirk Cussler]]
# ''[[Odessa Sea]]'' (2016) - Written with son [[Dirk Cussler]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://clive-cussler-books.com/odessa-sea|title=Odessa Sea - An Official Web Site for Bestselling Adventure Novelist - Author Clive Cussler|website=clive-cussler-books.com|date=5 November 2016 }}</ref>
# ''[[Celtic Empire]]'' (2019) - Written with son [[Dirk Cussler]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/clive-cussler/havana-storm.htm|title=Havana Storm (Dirk Pitt, book 23) by Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler|website=www.fantasticfiction.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Havana Storm: A Dirk Pitt Adventure|first1=search|last1=results|date=28 October 2014|publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons|isbn=978-0399172922}}</ref>
# ''Clive Cussler's The Devil's Sea'' (2021) - Written by Dirk Cussler
# ''Clive Cussler The Corsican Shadow'' (2023) - Written by Dirk Cussler

===Novel notes===
Although ''Pacific Vortex!'' was released in 1983, it is actually the first Dirk Pitt novel chronologically. The events of ''Pacific Vortex!'' happen before those of ''The Mediterranean Caper''. In fact, several events in ''Pacific Vortex!'' are referred to in ''The Mediterranean Caper''. The series does not have to be read in order, since each book stands by itself.

There is also a Dirk Pitt reference book:

* ''Dirk Pitt and Clive Cussler Revealed'' (1998) - Written with [[Craig Dirgo]], which contains photos and a synopsis of the books, as well as a compendium of cars, characters, villains and women that have appeared in the novels throughout the years. Also, there is a biography and interview with Cussler, and a short story "The Reunion", written from the perspective of a character who crashes a party at Pitt's hangar, meeting all the characters who had been predominant in the novels up to that time. Hints dropped throughout the story indicate that this unnamed character is Cussler himself.

===Film notes===
Pitt has twice appeared on the big screen, in movie adaptations of ''[[Raise the Titanic (film)|Raise the Titanic]]'' in 1980, and ''[[Sahara (2005 movie)|Sahara]]'' in 2005. In the former he was portrayed by [[Richard Jordan]], and in the latter by [[Matthew McConaughey]].

Clive Cussler sued the production company for the film ''Sahara'', Crusader, in 2004, claiming the company reneged on a contract that gave him approval rights over the film's screenplay, when, in fact, he only had those rights until a director was hired. Crusader, which is owned by billionaire [[Philip Anschutz]], then countersued, accusing Cussler of duping it into adapting his book into a film based on an inflated number of novels sold. Jurors ruled in May 2007 in favor of the production company. On March 10, 2009, Judge John P. Shook ordered Clive Cussler to pay $13.9 million in legal fees to Crusader. In his ruling, Judge Shook agreed with lawyers for Crusader Entertainment that an original contract between the two parties called for an award of legal fees if either side breached. "The issue boils down to whether the fees requested are reasonable and necessary," Shook said. He concluded that they were.  On July 27, 2009, Cussler issued a final check to Crusader, which totals the payback to $20 million to the wronged production company. A March 2010 decision by the California Court of Appeal has since overturned the earlier awardings of both the $5 million in damages and nearly $14 million in legal fees to Crusader.<ref>"Judgement against author Cussler overturned in Anschutz/'Sahara' dispute." Denver Business Journal. 4 March 2010. http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/03/01/daily53.html</ref>

==Critical studies==
Cussler's Dirk Pitt adventures are the focus of "The Clive Cussler Adventures: A Critical Review" by Steven Philip Jones.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.cusslerbooks.com The Official Website of Author Clive Cussler] 
*[http://www.numa.net The Real Life NUMA non-profit organization founded by Clive Cussler]
*[http://www.cusslersociety.com/ Clive Cussler Collector's Society] - An organization devoted to Clive Cussler's works.

{{Dirk Pitt}}
{{Clive Cussler}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitt, Dirk}}
[[Category:Dirk Pitt| ]]
[[Category:Book series introduced in 1973]]
[[Category:Dirk Pitt characters]]
[[Category:Clive Cussler characters]]
[[Category:Fictional archaeologists]]
[[Category:Fictional treasure hunters]]
[[Category:Literary characters introduced in 1973]]
[[Category:Fictional Vietnam War veterans]]
[[Category:Fictional United States Air Force personnel]]
[[Category:Characters in American novels of the 20th century]]
[[Category:Characters in American novels of the 21st century]]
[[Category:Novel series by featured character]]
[[Category:Adventure film characters]]
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