The author of many thrillers, including the book that became the iconic 1975 movie JAWS, died at his Princeton home on Saturday night. He was 65. His widow, Wendy Benchley, reported that her husband suffered from "a progressive and a fatal scarring of the lungs." A fuller obit appears at the New York Times.

When Jaws was published in 1974, it sparked a phenomenon that still endures - and some backlash about using a shark as a villain. "Even before it was published, JAWS was becoming a sensation as word trickled out of the publishing business that a blockbuster story was on the way. Movie rights were bought up, magazine articles commissioned, and the great white shark was thrust into the spotlight in a way that foreshadowed the current national obsession with THE DA VINCI CODE." No wonder folks like Jacques Cousteau weren't thrilled about the depiction of a shark as a villain. But Benchley was only building on his fascination, one that was mirrored in millions of readers.

Benchley, the grandson of noted humorist Robert Benchley and son of novelist Nathaniel Benchley, is also survived by three children and five grandchildren. A small family service will take place next week in Princeton.