My Father, the Captain: My Life With Jacques Cousteau »

In every legend, there is a legacy. In the life and career of undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau, that legacy beats in the heart of the sea and in the heart of his son, Jean-Michel, the noted French environmentalist,
educator and documentary film producer who has spent most of his adult life nurturing the work of his famous father.

In My Father, The Captain, Jean-Michel Cousteau takes an open and intimate look at the life he shared with his father, and the legend he has taken it upon himself to carry. In so doing, he hopes to shed new and meaningful light on the life and work of a man who inspired millions to reconsider our relationship with the sea and its creatures-and, in the process, to understand a little more about himself and his family as well.

"Captain Cousteau was a complicated man," the younger Cousteau writes. "He was a man of many different personalities, many different moods. But this is how it is with all great men, yes? We know the public mask, but it is the private face that reveals a man's true character. It is the man we know when the cameras are not filming."

My Father, The Captain is shot-through with new material and fresh insights into the life and mind of a man who helped to jump-start a global conservation effort that continues to flourish. Jean-Michel Cousteau and his collaborator, New York Times best-selling author Daniel Paisner, offer an intimate reappraisal of the many touchstone moments Jean-Michel shared with his father, as well as the seminal moments from his father's life that have become part of the Cousteau family lore and legend.

Introduction: Two Salutes 9

1 Beginnings 17

2 My Arrival 33

3 Liquid Air 55

4 A Family at Sea 75

5 Sanary 91

6 Waiting for Calypso 105

7 A Place of My Own 129

8 From Madagascar to Hollywood 159

9 Treasure 177

10 Philippe 189

11 Future Generations 211

12 The End of Something 229

Epilogue: Legacy 243

Time line 251

Acknowledgments 255