Peter Benchley dies at age 65

Peter Benchley died yesterday at the age of 65. His first novel Jaws enjoyed 40 weeks on the NY Times bestseller list. More importantly the book and movie nurtured a primal fear we all have of unseen things in cloudy waters.

This passage is from Newsday.com’s Benchley obituary by Valerie J. Nelson:

Originally titled "Silence in the Water," the book got its concise name after Benchley asked his father, children's author Nathaniel Benchley, to help him think of a title. His 200 suggestions included "Wha's That Noshin' On My Laig.' "

Another obit by Hillel Italie from Newsday.com reported that for their 40th anniversary the couple went into the ocean in one of those steel cages:

"We went at a time when the females came in and the females were much larger than the males. And at times we would have 4 or 5 of the most gorgeous female torpedoes drifting by the cage. We were thrilled, excited. We'd been around sharks for so long."

Maybe they saw the Sisterhood on their way to the Farallon Islands.

Peter Benchley dies at age 65

http://maggiereads.blogspot.com/2006/02/peter-benchley-dies-at-age-65.html