What is is about a pirate?

When I'm reading books, I often go through themes. One of my favourite themes are pirate books. When I get into pirate mode I can't get enough of them. I think my devotion with all things pirate; in the fiction world - not in the real world, I know in the real world they weren't people you wanted to run into; started with an obscure little movie titled The King's Pirate with Doug McClure and Jill St. John. If I were to watch this movie today I would probably be horrified that I ever liked it, but back when I first saw it, I was young, impressionable and had a terrific crush on Doug McClure. Whoa am I ever dating myself here.
The plot, from what I remember had Doug McClure going undercover as a pirate to find and arrest some pirates that were runny roughshod over the high seas. He discovers the pirate king's daughter Jill St. John, a pirate in her own right. They fell in love and yadda, yadda, yadda (which really means I don't remember what happened in the movie). But ever since then I perked up whenever pirate movies came out. Who made a better swashbuckler than Errol Flynn? I was burned terribly though with that dreadful Geena Davis movie Cutthroat Island.
As for pirate romance books, I loved the writings of Rafael Sabatini and Frenchman's Creek, a very bittersweet romance by Daphne Du Maurier. Then later, after my hiatus had ended I read Till Dawn Tames the Night by Meagan McKinney. This was my first experience with a HOT pirate book and boy was I impressed. Another one I read and enjoyed was The Pirate Lord by Sabrina Jeffries. Time moved on and I went on to different themes. My interest in pirate adventure stories was revived with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean. Was Johnny Depp not excellent in that movie or what? What followed was a glom of pirate books. I rarely met a pirate book I didn't love. Some of the ones that stood out
The Pirate Next Door and Perils of the Heart by Jennifer Ashley. I loved both of these books but was disappointed in The Pirate Hunter. The Care and Feeding of Pirates I will be reading very shortly.
The Iron Rose by Marsha Canham. This one has a novel twist in that the heroine is the pirate and a better kick ass heroine would be hard to find.
For Her Love and Into His Arms by Paula Reed. Although they weren't technically pirates, they were privateers, as was the hero from Across a Moonlit Sea.
I wanted more and couldn't find them in any of the regular or used book stores. This led me to special order what I wanted from Chapters. This is when I struck gold. The following are the pirate books I ordered and each and every one a delight.
Once a Pirate by Susan Grant was absolutely terrific. It's actually a cross between pirate and time travel another one of my favourite themes. This is a book I will be reading over and over.
The Pirate Prince by Gaelen Foley was the only Foley book I didn't already have and it too is a treasure I now own.
Across a Moonlit Sea by Marsha Canham was a book I somehow missed when it came out. Of course once I read it, I had to go back and reread The Iron Rose.
I know genres fade and swell, not unlike the high seas, but I hope there will always be pirate books. And I'm counting down the time until the sequel to The Pirates of the Caribbean comes out.