Posts

Showing posts with the label Madiana

What real ships inspired THE DEEP?

Image
The Deep   is inspired by numerous real shipwrecks that author  Peter Benchley  became aware of after meeting Bermudian explorer  Teddy Tucker . Tucker was himself the inspiration for the character of Romer Treece, and first meet Benchley when National Geographic sent the Jaws author to Bermuda in 1970*. Benchley's brief was to tell the  story of Bermuda  through its shipwrecks and according to  Emory Kristof , the National Geographic photographer who accompanied Benchley: " We went out catching sharks on long-lines. Benchley was a smart one. While I was taking pictures, he listened to all of Tucker's yarns about sharks and shipwrecks and turned it into Jaws and then made The Deep. " In  1976  Benchley said he dived the wreck of the Constellation (sank 1942**) which lay on top of two other ships; the Lartington (1878) and the Montana (1863). He contemplated a story about a honeymoon couple who stumble upon the wrecks but decided that readers wouldn't believe t