Shark The Herald Angels Sing: Farewell To Benchley.

"Peter Benchley, whose novel Jaws terrorized millions of swimmers even as the author himself became an advocate for the conservation of sharks, has died, his widow said Sunday. Benchley was 65."

Jaws was the second DVD I ever bothered to purchase (My first was Jurassic Park - a gift from Hegarty) so my first digital video forays involved an inordinate of humans being snacked on by scary monsters. No gay cowboys to speak of. Benchley wasn't entirely happy with many of Spielberg's choices - he saw Redford, Newman and McQueen in the roles of Brody, Hooper and Quint - but ended up being very satisfied with the finished result. The difficulty of the production is legendary, and most who worked on the film think it's a miracle that it was received as well as it was. It's ongoing popularity is just as amazing.

Thank you, Peter, for penning the tale that would lead to one of my favorite flicks of all time. Thanks not so much for Jaws 4, in which a dreadlocked Mario Van Peebles ran around doing a bad accent for two hours sounding something like Sean John with a speech impediment.

"Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies / Farewell and adieu you ladies of Spain. / For we received orders for to sail back to Boston / And soon never more will we see you again." - Quint.