"Jaws" Mastermind Dies

Peter Benchley, the man who unleashed Jaws on the world and kept generations of beachgoers out of the surf, has died.

The author and conservationist succumbed to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive and fatal scarring of the lungs. He died Saturday at his home in Princeton, New Jersey. He was 65.

Though Benchley went on to write several bestsellers, it was his debut novel in 1974, about a bloodthirsty shark terrorizing a small East Coast town, that spawned a franchise and defined his career.

Jaws spent more than 40 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. The 1975 movie version, written by Benchley and directed by Steven Spielberg, became the highest grossing film ever to that point and, per BoxOfficeMojo.com, remains one of the Top 10 when adjusted for inflation. The film won three Oscars, including one for John Williams' classic da-dum-da-dum score, and spawned four sequels--three feature films and a TV movie. And that's not counting the dozens of Z-grade ripoffs (see: Piranha, Anaconda, Alligator), satires (Saturday Night Live's classic "Land Shark" sketches) and homages, including Hanna Barbera's Mr. Jaws cartoon and the unrelated hit novelty record "Mr. Jaws."

In a statement, Spielberg credited Benchley and his novel for helping to launch the director's career.

"I owe so much to Peter because the success of Jaws gave me artistic freedom in all of my films thereafter," Spielberg said.

"What I will ultimately never forget about Peter was his complete devotion in the post-Jaws era to giving the world a better understanding of the life and evolution of sharks. He made a commitment to preserve the species and help dispel the fear and loathing of them that the Jaws phenomenon extended."

The admiration was mutual.

"Spielberg certainly made the most superb movie; Peter was very pleased," Wendy Benchley, his wife of 41 years, told the Associated Press. "But Peter kept telling people the book was fiction, it was a novel, and that he took no more responsibility for the fear of sharks than Mario Puzo took responsibility for the Mafia."

Indeed, Benchley became so appalled at the misconception of sharks, especially his titular great white, that he became an outspoken advocate for the creatures, calling for their protection and preservation.

In an interview with London's Daily Express published just last week, Benchley reiterated his claims that the book was "entirely fiction."

"Knowing what I know now, I could never write that book today," he said. "Sharks don't target human beings, and they certainly don't hold grudges."

Benchley said that he came up with the idea for Jaws in 1965, after reading about a huge shark being caught near Montauk, Long Island. "I thought to myself, 'What would happen if one of those came around and wouldn't go away?' "

Thomas Congdon, the editor of the novel, said he was impressed by some articles Benchley had written for National Geographic and approached him about writing a book, though he claims the initial draft was a far cry from the gripping thriller throngs of readers--and movie fans--have come to know.

"Ninety-five percent of it was jokey stuff, because he thought that was the way you do it," Congdon said. "But the first five pages were wonderful...He went out and did it again, and it generated whole industries--the movie, amusement park rides. It changed the way people looked at sharks."

Congdon also dismissed the long-held publishing legend that the reworked manuscript was edited to the point where it was his brainchild as much as Benchley's.

Born in New York City in 1940, Benchley had the perfect pedigree for a writer. His father Nathaniel Benchley was a noted author, and his grandfather, Robert Benchley, was a celebrated humorist.

Peter Benchley graduated from Harvard in 1961 and was a staff writer for Newsweek and the Washington Post before becoming a speechwriter for President Lyndon Johnson, writing some "difficult" speeches about Vietnam, his wife said.

While none of his subsequent novels were as hugely successful as Jaws, two of Benchley's other books, The Deep and The Island, were adapted into films. Two more, both in the vein of Jaws, The Beast and Creature, were turned into TV movies. All told, Benchley had story or screenwriting credits for 15 productions, according to IMDb.com. He even had cameos in four films, including playing a TV interviewer in Jaws and appearing as former Vanity Fair editor Frank Crowninshield in the 1994 Dorothy Parker biopic, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle.

In his later years, Benchley's novel writing took a back seat to his conservation work, which he saw as his enduring legacy.

Benchley served on the national council of Environmental Defense and wrote scores of articles for National Geographic and other publications on the importance of marine conservation. He traveled around the world, campaigning against shark fisheries and making undersea documentaries that had him swimming with sharks and whales.

Benchley's final book, the nonfiction Shark Life published last year, was aimed at teaching younger readers about the dangers of the sea.

In his interview with the Daily Express, the author spoke of how he hoped his most famous novel, though entertaining, could also help educate.

"I hope that Jaws will have brought sharks into the public interest at a time when we desperately need to reevaluate our care for the environment," he said.

Aside from wife Wendy, Benchley is survived by three children and five grandchildren. A small family service will take place next week in Princeton.