by Brad Matsen
16: An Honest Witness
—Cousteau’s hopes for The Undersea World are from reports in the New York Times and the Washington Post, January 1968.
—The reviews quoted from Time, Saturday Review, and Variety are from a promotional brochure published by Metromedia, the successor to David Wolper Productions as the producer of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau after the first four episodes, as cited in Munson, Cousteau, 115 n.
—Eugenie Clark’s critical comments about Cousteau are from the Washington Post Magazine, January 11, 1981. Cousteau’s statement about his intentions as an honest witness are from an article he wrote for the New York Times Magazine, September 1o, 1972.
—The chronology of Calypso’s voyage from South Africa to the Caribbean with the sea lions is from Cousteau and Sivirine, Jacques Cousteau’s “Calypso,” 92—119.
—Christopher Palmer’s comments about Cousteau’s contribution as a pioneer natural history filmmaker are quoted in a New York Times article after Cousteau’s death in 1997.
—Jean-Michel Cousteau’s assessment of his father as a storyteller is from an interview in January 2009.
—Cousteau’s comment about his father’s death is from an interview in the Seattle Weekly, November 1977.
—Cousteau’s pronouncement that the oceans are in danger of dying is from an interview published in Time, September 28, 1970.
17: Oasis in Space
—The details of the foundation of the Cousteau Society are from an interview with Jean-Michel Cousteau in July 2008.
—Biographical information on ARCO chairman Robert Anderson is from Yergin, The Prize, 570—71.
—Cousteau’s powerful attraction to women and theirs to him were well known among his intimates and associates, including his grandson Fabien Cousteau and Calypso crewmen André Laban and Marc Blessington, who shared their observations with me in interviews. Public knowledge of Cousteau’s womanizing was limited, but some articles have appeared in European newspapers that treated his indiscretions with the disrespect that is usually the fare of tabloids, though together they serve to confirm it.
—Cousteau and Francine diving together in Houston when Cousteau suffered an earache is confirmed in an interview with Jean-Michel Cousteau in May 2008, and dated by coverage of Involvement Day in the Houston Chronicle in September 1977.
18: Odyssey
—The details of the sinking of the cargo ship Cavtat are from a paper by G. Tiravanti and G. Boari, “Potential Pollution of a Marine Environment by Lead Alkyls: The Cavtat Incident,” Environmental Science & Technology 13 no. 7 (1979), 849—54.
—The description of “Time Bomb at Fifty Fathoms” is from the DVD of the episode released in 2005 by the Cousteau Society and Warner Video.
—The details of the PBY-6A are from Roscoe Creed, PBY: The Catalina Flying Boat (Annapolis, Md.: U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1986).
—The account of the crash of Flying Calypso and the death of Philippe Cousteau are from several newspaper reports and an obituary in the New York Times on July 1, 1979.
—The negative reaction of some of Calypso’s crew to Cousteau’s remarks to the press after Philippe’s funeral is confirmed in an interview with André Laban in February 2006. Laban himself was also offended that Cousteau had filmed the service aboard the Portuguese corvette, and from then on did not consider Cousteau to be a friend.
19: Moving On
—The accounts of life in the Cousteau family after the death of Philippe are from interviews with Fabien Cousteau in February—May 2005 and Jean-Michel Cousteau in April and July 2008.
—Jean-Michel Cousteau’s reaction to the death of his brother and subsequent willingness to become his father’s second in command are from an interview in July 2008. Quotes from Jean-Michel and Jacques Cousteau about Jean-Michel’s assumption of duties at the Cousteau Society are from Madsen, Cousteau, 205—7, cited from newspaper reports in 1979—80.
—Calypso’s voyage on charter to survey the waters at the mouth of the Orinoco River off Venezuela are from Cousteau and Sivirine, Jacques Cousteau’s “Calypso,” 166—68.
—The account of the Canadian Film Board grant and subsequent voyage of Calypso through the St. Lawrence Waterway is from Cousteau and Sivirine, Jacques Cousteau’s “Calypso,” 169—79.
—The account of the voyage of Moulin à Vent and Cousteau’s reaction to its failure are from a United Press International item, November 17, 1983, and a story in Sail magazine in February 1984.
20: Captain Outrageous
—Calypso’s damage from the St. Lawrence expedition is described in Cousteau and Sivirine, Jacques Cousteau’s “Calypso,” 181.
—The $5.1 million debt of the Cousteau Society in 1980 was confirmed in an interview with Jean-Michel Cousteau in July 2008.
—The details of the grim meeting in New York, John Denver’s suggestion that Cousteau meet Ted Turner, their introduction, and the deal for the Amazon expedition and the rights to the Odyssey series are from an interview with Jean-Michel Cousteau, July 2008.
—The details of preparation for the Amazon expedition and repairs to Calypso are from Cousteau and Sivirine, Jacques Cousteau’s “Calypso,” 181—84.
—The details of the Mississippi expedition are from interviews with Jean-Michel Cousteau in July 2008, Fabien Cousteau in February—May 2006, and Calypso/Alcyone crew member Marc Blessington in December 2005.
—The facts and details about the arrival of Alcyone and Calypso in New York in June 1985 are from many newspaper accounts that week.
—President Ronald Reagan’s awarding of the Medal of Freedom to Cousteau was reported in the Washington Post, April 8, 1985, and June 20, 1985.
—The details of Cousteau’s seventy-fifth birthday celebration at Mount Vernon are from a DVD of the WTBS television special Cousteau: The First Seventy-five Years, November 1985.
—Ted Turner’s remark that Cousteau is the father of the environmental movement is from his autobiography, Call Me Ted (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2008), 210—11.
21: Rediscovering the World
—The story about Ted Turner appearing to fall asleep during the pitch for the Rediscovery of the World series was told to me by Fabien Cousteau in February 2006.
—Details of the visit to Haiti are from Munson, Cousteau: The Captain and His World, 212—14.
—The details of life aboard Alcyone and Calypso during The Rediscovery of the World series are from conversations with former crewman Marc Blessington in December 2005, Fabien Cousteau between February and May 2006, and Jean-Michel Cousteau in April and July 2008.
—Turner’s extension of Cousteau’s contract through 1992 and the appointment of Tom Beers as producer were confirmed in an interview with Beers in September 2008.
—Jean-Michel Cousteau’s hearing of his mother’s death in a phone call while he was in Bangkok is from an interview in July 2008.
22: Chaos
—The accounts of the lunch at which Cousteau broke the news about Francine Triplet to Jean-Michel, and Jean-Michel’s subsequent reaction, which led to his quitting work with his father, are from interviews with Jean-Michel Cousteau in April and July 2008, as well as Jacques Cousteau’s obituary in the New York Times, June 26, 1997.
—Cousteau’s musings on his own death and other pronouncements on humanity and the environment are quoted in Madsen, Cousteau, 235—39.
—Jean-Michel’s observations on his father’s last years are from interviews with him in April 2008 and January 2009.
—The account of Cousteau’s funeral at Notre Dame is from an article in the New York Times by Marlise Simmons, July 1, 1997.
—The account of the dispute over ownership of Calypso is from interviews with Fabien Cousteau, February—May 2006, and Jean-Michel Cousteau, April and July 2008. Francine Cousteau’s statements about the dispute and its resolution are from the Cousteau Society announcements and an article in the London Sunday Times, January 27, 2008.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Books
Bass, Thomas A. The Newtonian Casino. London: Penguin Books, 1990.
Bibb, Porter. It Ain’t As Easy As It Looks: A Biography of Ted Turner. Boulder, Colo.:
Johnson Books, 1997. Broad, William J. The Universe Below: Discovering the Secrets of the Deep Sea. New
York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. Brunner, Bernd. The Ocean at Home: An Illustrated History of the Aquarium. New
York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2005. Burgess, Thomas. Take Me Under the Sea: The Dream Merchants of the Deep. Salem,
Ore.: Ocean Archives, 1994. Burt, Peter, ed. Cannes: Fifty Years of Sun, Sex, and Celluloid. New York: Miramax, 1997.
Chaikin, Andrew. A Man on the Moon. New York: Penguin, 1995.
Cousteau, Jacques-Yves, and Philippe Cousteau. The Shark: Splendid Savage of the Sea. New York: Doubleday, 1970.
Cousteau, Jacques-Yves, and Philippe Diole. Octopus and Squid: The Soft Intelligence. New York: Doubleday, 1973.
Cousteau, Jacques-Yves, with James Dugan. The Living Sea. New York: Harper and Row, 1963.
——. World Without Sun. New York: Harper and Row, 1964.
Cousteau, Jacques-Yves, with Frédéric Dumas (and James Dugan). The Silent World. New York: Harper and Row, 1953, 1981. Reprint edition by the National Geographic Society, 2004.
Cousteau, Jacques-Yves, and Robert Laffont. The Cousteau Encyclopedia of the Ocean. Paris and New York: World Publishing (Volumes 1—7), Abrams (Volumes 8–20), 1966—76.
Cousteau, Jacques-Yves, and Susan Schiefelbein. The Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus: Exploring and Conserving the Natural World. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2007.
Cousteau, Jacques-Yves, and Alexis Sivirine. Jacques Cousteau’s “Calypso.” New York: Abrams, 1983.
Cousteau, Jean-Michel. Mon père, le commandant. Paris: L’Archipel, 2004.
Cousteau, Pierre-Antoine. L’Amerique juive. Paris: Editions de France, 1942.
——. Après le deluge. Paris: Editions de France, 1956.
——. Les lois de l’hospitalité. Paris: Librairie Française, 1959.
Creed, Roscoe. PBY: The Catalina Flying Boat. Annapolis, Md.: U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1986.
Earle, Sylvia. National Geographic Atlas of the Ocean. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Books, 2001.
——. Sea Change: A Message of the Oceans. New York: Putnam, 1995.
Ellis, Richard. The Empty Ocean: Plundering the World’s Marine Life. Washington, D.C.: Islands Press, 2003.
Ezra, Elizabeth. Georges Méliès. Manchester, U.K.: Manchester University Press, 2000.
Frey, Hugo. Louis Malle. Manchester, U.K.: Manchester University Press, 2004.
Katz, Michael, William P. Marsh, and Gail Gordon Thompson, eds. Earth’s Answer: Exploration of Planetary Culture. New York: Harper and Row, 1977.
Kelley, Kevin W., ed., for the Association of Space Explorers. The Home Planet. New York: Addison-Wesley, 1988.
Kittrell, Ed, Casey Kittrell, and Jim Kittrell, eds. Down Time: Great Writers on Diving. 2d ed. Austin, Tex.: Look Away Books, 2002.
Laban, André. La passion du bleu: Un des pioneers de l’équipe Cousteau raconte. Aix-en-Province, France: Edisud, 1995.
Madsen, Axel. Cousteau: An Unauthorized Biography. New York: Beaufort Books, 1986.
Mander, Jerry. Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. New York: Harper-Collins, 1977.
McIntyre, Joan, ed. Mind in the Waters: A Book to Celebrate the Consciousness of Whales and Dolphins. New York: Scribner, 1974.
Muller, Delie, and Jean-Yves Boscher. Bordeaux: Aspects of Aquitaine. Bordeaux: Editions Grand Sud, 2003.
Munson, Richard. Cousteau: The Captain and His World. New York: Paragon House, 1989.
Piccard, Jacques, and Robert S. Dietz. Seven Miles Down: The Story of the Bathyscaphe “Trieste.” New York: Putnam, 1961.
Rozwadowski, Helen M. Fathoming the Ocean: The Discovery and Exploration of the Deep Sea. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2005.
Tailliez, Philippe. To Hidden Depths. London: Kimber, 1954.
Thomson, C. Wyville. The Depths of the Sea. London: Macmillan, 1874.
Turner, Ted, with Bill Burke. Call Me Ted. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2008.
Verne, Jules. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Translated by Walter James Miller and Frederick Paul Walter. Annapolis, Md.: U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1993.
Wolper, David L., with David Fisher. Producer: A Memoir. New York: Scribner, 2003.
Yergin, Daniel. The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. New York: Free Press, 1991.
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Calypso Log (Norfolk, Virginia).
Diver (Vancouver, B.C.)
L’Express (Paris)
Historical Diver. Official Publication of the Historical Diving Society, U.S.A.
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The Silent World. 1956.
Sixty Feet Down (Par dix-huit mètres de fond). 1942.
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The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. ABC, 36 episodes, 1966—75.
Oasis in Space. PBS Canada/United States, 4 episodes, 1976—77.
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey, PBS United States, 8 episodes, 1977—83.
Amazon and Mississippi. Turner Broadcasting System, 9 episodes, 1978—83.
Jacques Cousteau’s Rediscovery of the World, I and II. TBS, 36 episodes, 1986—92.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The idea for this book came from the lively mind of Meryl Rosofsky, physician, chef, traveler, bon vivant, and dear friend. I hope I have done justice to her confidence that I could do this job and thank her for her inspiration.
Writing about an internationally celebrated, complex, and beloved man would have been impossible without the generosity and kindness of dozens of people who knew him or in some way counted themselves among his enormous circle of friends and acquaintances. I am most grateful to Fabien Cousteau, who shared my enthusiasm for creating an accurate, engaging portrait of his grandfather, and to Jean-Michel Cousteau, whose forthright recollections informed my understanding of his father. Sandra Squire, Jean-Michel Cousteau’s assistant, remained cheerfully helpful even when my many phone calls and requests had certainly become a nuisance. Former members of the crews of Calypso and Alcyone answered my questions both on and off the record about Cousteau, the inventions he inspired to explore the underwater world, and life aboard ship during forty-five years of filmmaking at sea. Thanks especially to André Laban, Albert Falco, Marc Blessington, and Richard Murphy. Tom Beers, formerly a producer at Turner Broadcasting, provided me with great insights into the rigors and routines of television production as well as some details of the last years of Cousteau’s life. Cousteau himself recorded a great deal of his life in words and on film.
My understanding of the development and mechanics of the Aqua-Lung was nurtured by Phil Nuytten, a pioneer diver and renaissance man who never seemed to be annoyed when I asked him the same question two or three times. His explanations of oxygen rebreathers, gas regulators, and the physiology of breathing were crucial to explaining them to readers.
I am grateful to psychologist Dr. Lisa Fortlouis Wood, who helped me understand Cousteau’s personality and his pattern of involving countless people in fulfilling his visions and leaving most of them behind as he moved on to his next adventure.
I am not the first writer to attempt to chronicle the life of Jacques Cousteau, and am grateful to all who have gone before me, especially Leslie Leaney and Phil Nuytten. Their finely wrought
stories on Cousteau and the Aqua-Lung in Historical Diver magazine were true gifts. I am also indebted to Axel Madsen and Richard Munson, whose biographies of Cousteau guided me through the chronology and events through the 1980s.
Many friends shared this four-year voyage with me, providing advice, comfort, research leads, and recollections of Cousteau. My heartfelt thanks to Barbara Bernstein, Mark Brinster, Gary Burdge, Kelly Cassad, Nicolas Chaubert, Daniel Clem, Gail Cunningham and Sara Wood, Doug Dixon at Pacific Fisherman Shipyard, John Grissim, Brett Hobson, Clyde Hull, Barbara Marrett, Will Nothdurft, Claire Nouvian, Carol Ostrom, Jeff Parkhurst, Bruce Robison, Mark Shelley, Colleen Simpson, Tierney Thys, Ray Troll, and Peter Ward.
My agent, Richard Abate at Endeavor, encouraged me as he always does to think clearly and tell a good story. He led me to an understanding of this book as something other than a recitation of events and always seemed to know what to do when I didn’t.
Edward Kastenmeier, my editor, recognized the importance of this work and was patient through some unusual circumstances along the way. I am grateful that he insisted I rise above the ordinary in my perceptions of Cousteau and his significance to the world. I also thank Timothy O’Connell, Katharine Freeman, and the other bookmakers at Pantheon, whose excellent work adds so much to what you now hold in your hands.
I gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the MacDowell Colony and Theodore W. Kheel. Both contributed immensely to my sense of well-being while I worked.
My family, Laara Matsen, Jonas Bendiksen, and Milo Bendiksen, provided me with boundless love and inspiration, ingredients so essential to my life that nothing at all would have happened without them.
