Pirates did not store all their treasures in treasure chests, then bury them and draw maps to them. That’s a movie invention. In reality, pirates spent their money as fast as they could steal it because they knew they were living on borrowed time. They didn’t want to wait around to enjoy the money. Robert Kurson Read Quote
I have been interested in pirates since I was about 8 years old. The idea of people deciding, sometimes at a moment’s notice, to throw over the rules and restrictions of society – it was just irresistible. Robert Kurson Read Quote
I had an advantage over a lot of people who had gone to school and earned degrees in writing and had learned the rules for writing, so to speak. My style was just to tell a story but to tell it well, and that has worked out for me so far. Robert Kurson Read Quote
I have two parents who are brilliant storytellers. The art of developing a story and nurturing a story was present in my household from the day I was born. Robert Kurson Read Quote
Violence, as it is for the mafia and most other criminal organizations, was bad for pirate business. By doing battle with prey, pirates risked damage to their own ships and injury to their crews. It also made them bigger targets for law enforcement. Robert Kurson Read Quote
Port Royal, Jamaica, was built for pirates. The town had a well-protected harbor, corrupt politicians and townsfolk, and a set of ethics that seemed passed down from Sodom and Gomorrah. Robert Kurson Read Quote
Pirates almost never sailed with women. Just four or five are known to have worked as pirates during the Golden Age. Two of them – Mary Read and Anne Bonny – became famous, dressing as men and fighting alongside one of the most celebrated of all pirate captains, ‘Calico’ Jack Rackham. Robert Kurson Read Quote
For my new book ‘Pirate Hunters’, I follow John Chatterton and John Mattera, two world-class scuba divers, who teach themselves to think and act as pirates while searching for what would be only the second pirate ship ever found and positively identified. Robert Kurson Read Quote
Real pirates were better than in movies, more daring and terrifying and cunning than any screenwriter could imagine. They operated during the Golden Age of Piracy, from 1650 to 1720. Robert Kurson Read Quote
