American environmental conservationist
Wendy Benchley
|
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![Photo of Wendy Benchley, seated and facing forward](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/WendyBenchley_Wiki_Only_Photo.jpg/220px-WendyBenchley_Wiki_Only_Photo.jpg) Benchley in 2019
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Born
| Winifred Wesson
(
1941-02-04
)
February 4, 1941
(age 83)
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Occupation(s)
| Ocean conservationist, environmental activist, former councilwoman
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Spouses
|
(
m.
1964; died 2006)
John Jeppson III
(
m.
2011)
|
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Children
| 3
|
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Winifred
"
Wendy
"
Benchley
(
nee
Wesson
; born February 4, 1941) is a marine and environmental conservation advocate and former councilwoman from New Jersey. She is known for co-founding various environmental organizations and for being the wife of author
Peter Benchley
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Wendy Wesson was born and raised in
Montclair, New Jersey
, to Harrison and Dorcas Wesson. Harrison Wesson was a surgeon and served in the Philippines during WWII. Wendy Wesson graduated from
Montclair High School
in 1959, after which she did a grand tour of Europe with her family.
Wesson continued her studies at
Skidmore College
where she majored in philosophy and psychology.
[1]
While in college, Benchley became involved in activism and was arrested for picketing
Woolworth
in Saratoga Springs in protest of the department store's segregation policy.
[1]
Political and environmental activism
[
edit
]
While in
Pennington, New Jersey
, Peter Benchley wrote the novel
Jaws
, which became a critical and commercial success.
[2]
The process of researching ‘Jaws’ and the aftermath of the novel's success and film adaptation left both Peter and Wendy Benchley with a profound interest in sharks and ocean conservation. The couple subsequently became involved in conservation efforts and traveled internationally to meet with researchers and go
cage diving
with sharks.
[3]
Wendy Benchley served as a board member of the
Environmental Defense Fund
(EDF) from 1986 to 2006
[4]
and Peter was an EDF spokesperson. They made appearances together to speak about protecting sharks and conservation.
[5]
Peter Benchley recalled his wife saving his life in 1974 during a televised cage diving expedition in the
Neptune Islands
off of Australia. Unnoticed by the crew, the
great white shark
being filmed got its teeth entangled in the rope that Peter Benchley's cage was suspended by and was struggling to break free. Wendy was the only one on board the crew's boat to notice and she successfully attempted to free the rope from the shark's mouth before it was severed.
[6]
Wendy Benchley later became active in environmentalism and grassroots political causes outside of marine conservation, co-founding the New Jersey Environmental Federation and becoming involved in New Jersey politics. During this time she advocated for green energy and environmental reforms.
[7]
Wendy was elected to the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1992, before being elected to the
Princeton Borough
Council for three terms, from 1999 to 2008 before leaving New Jersey politics to focus on ocean conservation.
[8]
2006?present
[
edit
]
Peter Benchley died of pulmonary fibrosis on February 11, 2006, at the couple's home in
Princeton, New Jersey
.
[9]
Wendy Benchley, along with
David Helvarg
, co-founded the
Peter Benchley Ocean Awards
in 2008 to honor the memory of the late Peter Benchley. Referred to as “the Academy Awards of the ocean”,
[10]
the Peter Benchley Ocean Awards recognize outstanding achievements in the area of ocean conservation.
[11]
The awards were originally a project of
Blue Frontier
but they later became a separate organization headed by Benchley and Helvarg.
[12]
In addition to taking part in hosting and nominating recipients of the Peter Benchley Ocean Awards, Benchley has continued to advocate for marine conservation in other arenas. Benchley is an advisory trustee of the EDF, president of the board of SharkSavers, and a board member of
WildAid
and
Blue Frontier Campaign
. Benchley helped to facilitate the merger between SharkSavers and WildAid in 2014, which saw both organizations focus their resources on campaigns against
sharkfin soup
consumption, a leading cause of shark fishing.
[13]
[14]
Benchley has supported organizations such as the Aspen Institute High Seas Initiative and the Coral Reefs on the High Seas Initiative to implement new marine conservation policies.
[15]
Benchley supported BiteBack's advocacy against irresponsible media coverage of sharks and the sale of shark products such as shark fin soup and shark steaks.
[16]
In 2011, Benchley married John Jepson III, the grandson of industrialist
John Jeppson
.
Awards and recognition
[
edit
]
Benchley was awarded the 2014
SeaKeeper Award
and was inducted into the
Women Divers Hall of Fame
in 2015.
[17]
Benchley received the 2016 Beneath the Sea, Diver of the Year Award for environmentalism
[18]
and 2017 Pegasus Wings Awards for her lifetime achievements as an ocean conservationist. In 2019 she was awarded the Rob Stewart Foundation Lifetime Achievement for Ocean Conservation Award.
[19]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Wendy Wesson met Peter Benchley at the Jared Coffin House in Nantucket in 1963, and the two were married the following year. The couple had their first child, a daughter named Tracy, in 1967.
[20]
They later had a son named Clayton in 1969, and a third child, Christopher, in 1987.
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Year
|
Film
|
Role
|
Notes
|
2007
|
The Shark Is Still Working: The Impact & Legacy of 'Jaws'
|
Participant
|
Documentary
|
2007
|
Diving Into 'Blue Water, White Death'
|
Participant
|
Video documentary
|
2010
|
Jaws: The Inside Story
|
Herself
|
TV documentary
|
2012
|
How ‘Jaws’ Changed the World
|
Herself
|
TV documentary
|
Television
[
edit
]
Year
|
Work
|
Role
|
Notes
|
2014
|
Nova
|
Herself
|
Episode: "Why Sharks Attack"
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Stratton, Jean.
"After Nine Years on Borough Council, Wendy Benchley Sets New Agenda"
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
"Peter Benchley Patrick Walsh Scene4 Magazine November 2014"
.
www.scene4.com
. Retrieved
October 30,
2019
.
- ^
Swiden, Neil (July 9, 2019).
"Sharks on Cape Cod: Just how scared should we be?"
.
Boston Globe
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
"Great White Sharks: From Terror of the Seas to Admired Creatures"
. July 31, 2015
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
ecurren.
"Jaws: A Family Movie, a Teaching Moment"
.
Women Working for Oceans
. Retrieved
October 30,
2019
.
- ^
Benchley, Peter (2003).
Shark Trouble: True Stories About Sharks and the Sea
. Random House Publishing. p. 45.
ISBN
0385901356
.
- ^
Wendy Benchley on MVTV's William Waterway Interview
. August 9, 2012
. Retrieved
October 21,
2019
.
- ^
"Wendy W. Benchley"
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
Wyatt, Edward (February 13, 2006).
"Peter Benchley, Author of 'Jaws,' Dies at 65"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
Dowling, David (August 15, 2014).
"How the Creator of 'Jaws' Became the Shark's Greatest Defender"
.
Narratively
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
Badham, James (January 12, 2016).
"Winning the Ocean Oscar"
.
The Current
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
"The Peter Benchley Ocean Awards"
.
Blue Frontier Campaign
. Retrieved
October 30,
2019
.
- ^
"Wendy Benchley is a Passionate Ocean Advocate and MAPS Supporter"
. April 17, 2018
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
"Shark Savers Joins WildAid"
.
WildAid
. March 10, 2014
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
"Co-founders, Wendy Benchley"
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
Liang, John (August 16, 2018).
"British TV Celebrities Among The Latest To Call For Responsible Shark Journalism"
.
Narratively
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
"Women Divers Hall of Fame Inducts Six New Members for 2015"
.
Florida Diver
. March 24, 2015
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
"Beneath the Sea proudly presents …The Class of 2016: Divers of the Year"
.
beneaththesea.org
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
"2017 PEGASUS WINGS AWARDS"
.
Pegasus Foundation
. Retrieved
October 19,
2019
.
- ^
Eilperin, Juliet (2011).
Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks
. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 46.
ISBN
978-0307379795
.
External links
[
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]
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Novels
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TV and film
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Related
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