He would have lied to himself as facilely as an alcoholic lies to himself to justify the 10 a.m. tumbler of vodka : it may be early here, but in Baghdad it's almost evening.

Since writing JAWS, I've been lucky enough to do close to forty television shows about wildlife in the oceans, and yes, I have been attacked by sea creatures once in a while.

I don't believe in blaming inanimate objects for anything.

Sharks don't target human beings, and they certainly don't hold grudges.

Reputations rise and fall almost as regularly as the tides.

I've never been hurt by a sea creature, except for jellyfish and sea urchins.

I know now that the mythic monster I created was largely a fiction.