In addition to his many other feats, Pat Croce is also a New York Times bestselling author—and he’ll likely repeat the accomplishment in the near future. Most of his books—“110 Percent: 110 Strategies for Feeling Great Every Day” and “Lead or Get Off the Pot!: The Seven Secrets of a Self-Made Leader,” for example—provide motivation for life and business, though his most recent and soon-to-be released works detail what has become something of an obsession: the so-called Golden Age of Piracy.

In May 2011, Philadelphia-based Running Press will publish Croce’s “Blackbeard,” an illustrated book based on the life and conquests of the world’s most notorious pirate. Fortuitously, the book’s release will coincide with that of Walt Disney Pictures’ fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” film, which is rumored to introduce Blackbeard as a supporting character. Also, toward the end of the year, San Francisco’s Chronicle Books will release “The Pirate Handbook,” a tome Croce took four years to write.

“Think of ‘The Dangerous Book for Boys’ meets ‘Treasure Island,’” Croce says. “It teaches you how to sharpen a knife, throw a knife, defend against a knife, pitch a tent, make a fire, load a flintlock, make grog, read a compass, plot a course by the stars. … If you were to find this book on the street you would know how to be a pirate.”