Robert F. Marx

Robert F. Marx (born December 8, 1933) is one of the pioneer American scuba divers and is best known for his work with shipwrecks and sunken treasure. Although he is considered controversial for his frequent and successful forays into treasure hunting, fellow treasure hunter E. Lee Spence describes Marx as the true father of underwater archaeology.

Biography
Marx became a diving specialist in the United States Marine Corps in 1953. He has since made over 5,000 dives and has authored over 800 reports/articles and 59 books on history, archaeology, shipwrecks and exploration.

Marx and his wife, Jenifer, live in Indialantic, Florida. They are co-authors of several non-fiction books.

He was a founding member of the Council on Underwater Archaeology and of the Sea Research Society and served on the Society's Board of Advisors. In 1972 he participated in the creation of the research/professional degree of Doctor of Marine Histories.

Marx was made a Knight-commander in the Order of Isabella the Catholic by the Spanish government for his re-enactment in the Niña II of Christopher Columbus' first voyage of exploration.

White gods
Marx has written extensively about the concept of White Gods. Marx came to the conclusion that White Gods "figure in almost every indigenous culture in the Americas." A review by Jonathan Kirsch in the Los Angeles Times concluded that "Quest" is a good yarn, but Marx tries hard to dress it up as something slightly scandalous. In that sense, "Quest" is the archeological equivalent of Oliver Stone's "JFK"--Marx seeks to prove the existence of "great white gods" by offering us a haphazard collection of oddities, rumors and coincidences, but what's on display here is really nothing more than the passions and obsessions of a born showman."