Lawrence David Kusche is an American author, research librarian, and pilot. He investigated unexplained disappearances and other unusual events related to the Bermuda Triangle to answer queries he was getting as a research librarian, and ended up writing a book debunking most of the mysteries touted by other writers about that location.
Early life and education
Kusche was born in Racine, Wisconsin, and his family moved to the Phoenix, Arizona area when he was six. Interested in aviation, Kusche qualified for a commercial pilot's license at age 19, was a commercial pilot by age 21, a flight instructor by age 24, and an instrument instructor. In 1964, Kusche graduated from Arizona State University. He completed a training course to become a commercial flight engineer, but on the day he was supposed to report for work, he decided he didn't like the prospect of a career sitting in front of hundreds of switches and dials unable to see out of the airplane. He resigned and returned to Arizona to become a high schoolmath teacher and librarian. Later, he acquired a master's degree in library science and began working at ASU's Hayden Library in June, 1969.
Career
Kusche is the author of Larry Kusche's Popcorn Cookery, a 1977 cookbook detailing recipes involving popcorn, including baked goods made from ground-up popcorn "flour", and Shape Up Your Hips and Thighs. Kusche took a leave-of-absence to complete his first book. After the success of the Bermuda Triangle book, Kusche abandoned his career as a librarian to become a writer. He has worked as a technical writer in the Phoenix area. After the publication of his investigative books, Kusche became a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
Bermuda Triangle
As a research librarian at ASU, Kusche received queries for all types of information from students writing term papers. In the early 1970s, he became interested in the Bermuda Triangle mystery, as he was confronted by numerous queries related to the Triangle. This prompted Kusche and fellow librarian Debbie Blouin to start gathering information, mostly by writing hundreds of letters to request information from official sources. Initially, the two librarians began selling a bibliography of the information about the Bermuda Triangle that they had acquired. Later, it occurred to Kusche that somebody should put down all of the information they had gathered into a book. When the publishing companyHarper and Row ordered a copy of the bibliography, Kusche sent them a copy with a note scribbled on it asking if they were interested in a book about the subject that he was writing – and they were. Initially intrigued by the mysteries surrounding the Triangle, Kusche's research convinced him that virtually all the incidents had been caused by storms or accidents, or they happened outside the Triangle, or no proof could be found that they ever occurred at all. His conclusion was that the Triangle was a "manufactured mystery," the result of poor research and reporting, and the occasional deliberate falsification of facts. Kusche originally included a long chapter in his Bermuda Triangle book about Flight 19, five Navy Avenger torpedo airplanes on a training mission out of Fort LauderdaleNaval Air Station that disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean on December 5, 1945. Kusche later expanded this chapter into a book, The Disappearance of Flight 19. He studied the Navy's report of the investigation, interviewed many of the Navy personnel who were involved at the time, and flew the likely route of the missing aircraft himself. At the time, the lost flight of five torpedo bombers was said to be a victim of the mysterious forces in the Triangle. Kusche explained why the flight leader erroneously thought he was in the Florida Keys, why he said his compass had failed, and why no wreckage has yet been found.
