Peter Benchley the Author of the Underwater Super-Thrillers, "Jaws" and "The Deep;' Is Revealed As a Sensitive Schdar of Our Seas
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Archives: BlennyWatcher.com Originally published in Ocean Realm 50 Ocean Realm Profile: Peter Benchley The author of the underwater super-thrillers, "Jaws" and "The Deep;' is revealed as a sensitive schdar of our seas. TEXT BY NED DELOACH also cringed as they watched a fictive was the American yachtsmans neuroses shark gnaw away at their projected prof- that were rasped by the chilling tale. Soon he world's most popular creator of un- its. Someone has to be blamed. It must be to follow was a third major motion T derwater fiction is, without question, Benchley! picture. Peter Benchley. His four books, three film Two years later, in 1976, a second novel Benchleys public acclaim continued to scripts and innumerable television proj- appeared: The Deep. The great white be- grow with each new success. This popu- ects have made his name synonymous hemoth was now gone. In its place was a larity, coupled with a gracious manner with underwater adventure. These ac- fast action yarn packed with flying and literate mind, made him a natural to complishments have brought him wealth speargun shafts, underwater explosives, help bolster the ratings of network spe- and notoriety from the general public, but shipwrecks brimming with modern and cials about the sea. These well-produced mostly disfavor from the sport diving ancient treasures, a resident moray eel (of projects portrayed a new, exciting world community, which has invariably course, much larger and far more menac- to millions of Saturday afternoon arm- perceived his novels as packaged goods, ing than those encountered in real life) chair adventurers. The scripts were far lacking in conscience, foresight and and a lovely maiden gracing a forever- removed from the spectacular hyperbole authenticity. clinging wet T-shirt. that characterized Benchleys books and Accusing fingers are repeatedly A young couple honeymooning in Ber- film dramas. In their place were sensitive, pointed at the unprecedented shark ma- muda were the storys central characters. well-researched narratives about the sea nia that followed in the wake of Benchley's The action-packed script never allowed and her inhabitants. For the first time, the first creation, Jaws. He had taken liberties them to dive below the crystalline waters public was presented with a true sense of with the shark's naturalinclinations to en- without confronting misadventure. Many the man. gender a great white rogue. America sud- sport divers felt personally betrayed. They Benchley's critics were taken aback by denly discovered a hoola hoop of horror knew that The Deep was not an honorable what seemed to be an about-face in atti- brandishing two thousand teeth. The testament to their sport. tude. How could he, on one hand, portray country responded by purchasing nine Again, good fortune followed our man. the sea as a no-man's land, and on the million copies of the book and set box The book sold well and the movie rendi- other, express such insight into her very office records when the excellent film ad- tion was a hit. Jackie Bisset filled the essence? Most divers were pleased by his aptation appeared. After witnessing the clinging T-shirt admirably and Nick Nolte understanding comments, but many re- terror inflicted by Benchley's phantasmic grimaced to perfection each time he es- mained skeptical. If the man felt so deeply beast, thousands were scared away from caped from the ill-boding depths. toward life in the oceans and their con- the water. Many others responded to their In The Island, Benchley's third novel, the tinued existence, then why didn't he use fear by ignominiously slaughtering sharks formidable adventures moved topside to his writing talents to help express these of every species. Beach resort owners and deal directly with the grisly realities of views? watersport equipment manufacturers modern-day piracy. This time around, it He did just that in 1982, when his fourth 51 sea novel, The Girl of the Sea of Cortez, was Daily News that a man had caught a 4,500- 220 in my head, but none we were happy published. The storyline abandoned the pound great white shark off the beaches of with. Many sounded like bad Francoise swashbuckling action that dominated his Long Island. I thought, 'My God, what Sagan novels-A Stillness in the Water, earlier books. In its place was a simple would happen if one of these things came Leviathan Rising-that type of stuff. Even- fable about a young girls love for the sea into the beach and wouldn't go away?' But tually I began to think of titles like The and her determination to protect its crea- at the time, I did nothing about the idea. Jaws of Leviathan, The Jaws of Death and tures. The sublime joy experienced while 'As a journalist in New York I was occa- decided to throw all that away as garbage. free-diving in an undisturbed sea has sel- Twenty minutes before publication, we dom been expressed so well. Persistent had no title. Tom and I could only agree on threats by local fishermen to discover her one word. We didn't even understand secret marine world closely parallel the what it meant, but it was nice and short. continuing burdens placed on all our seas Finally, I said, 'Lets call it Jaws.' by world economic realities. Hurray for "If you remember, one of the very im- Benchley! Finally, a story that has touched portant promotions for the book was the the soul of our sport! But wait, what has logo that appeared on the jacket. Like the been the public's reaction? Unfortunately, title, we had a difficult time deciding what it was far less dramatic than that which to use. I had suggested a set of enormous occurred following his earlier novels. For shark jaws with a town inside. Terribly the first time, a Benchley sea story was symbolic. It was duly drawn by Double- passed over by bookclub selection com- day. When the sales force saw it, they rose mittees. Even after a hard sell to the film up as a man and said they didn't approve industry, no contract has been forthcom- of it because it looked like the Freudian ing. Lamentably, The Girl of the Sea of Cor- analogy of the vagina dentata, the toothed tez, with all its meritorious sentiments vagina, the terrible Freudian nightmare. and grace, interested too few to be They felt it was disgusting. Again, the deemed profitable. book had to go into production soon. We What does the public require from un- had many designs, but none that we could derwater fiction? Is it truth and beauty, or decide on. We were working with a black a manifestation of its own misconcep- jacket that had the title Jaws on it. Alex tions? If profits are considered, the public Godfrey, their design genius, saw this demands a cushioned terror, to be gently and knew that we weren't going to get seated in another realm while safely sens- anywhere. He sketched up a grey rising ing excitement and stimulation beyond sionally taken to lunch by publishers. shark. All you could tell about it was a realistic endurance. Jaws, The Deep, and They would ask me if I had a book. A few slash of a mouth with some teeth. He still The Island filled this genre with remark- times I mentioned the shark story and didn't like it. He worked with this design able success. Although farcical in nature, some expressed interest. Then one guy until the last minute before production the stories were replete with fun and did the inexcusable. Tom Congden of Dou- when he drew in a swimming woman thrills. Few contemporary storytellers bleday, after hearing about it, thought that right under the title and just over the have captured the emotions of an au- this was such a good idea that he offered a sharks nose. Now what this did is to give dience better than Peter Benchley. thousand dollars for the first four chap- it everything you can imagine. It had sex- For a decade now, the dichotomy be- ters. If he liked them, he would then draw ual menace, Freudian menace and it said tween his fiction and expressed senti- up a contract. I took the thousand and animal, death, woman. It did all these ments has puzzled many. Yet two facts are didn't do anything about the project. things, but nobody knew it at the time. indisputable. He will continue to delight About three months later he called my "The book went out to the Book-of-the- millions with thrilling underwater ad- agent and asked for the four chapters or Month Club. They made it an A-book, venture stories that flow from a most un- the thousand back. So I started on the which, in publishing terms, means that it usual and compelling imagination. At the book-something I had wanted to do, is likely to be a main selection. This is rare same time, popularity decrees that he is a anyway. At the time I had no money. I was for a first novel. Then it was picked up by spokesman for the seas. Our concerns are working in the back of the Pennington the Readers' Digest Condensed Book represented well by a man deeply com- Furnace Supply Co. with two days a week Club. Soon, movie companies began to mitted to knowledge and understanding. off to tell my story. I had never written a bid on it. Now, Tom knew we had some- long story before; not only that, I knew the thing that was a bit more than normal.