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

No, the shark in an updated JAWS could not be the villain; it would have to be written as the victim, for, worldwide, sharks are much more the oppressed than the oppressors.

Writing is sweat and drudgery most of the time. And you have to love it in order to endure the solitude and the discipline.

I read very widely, both non-fiction and fiction, so I don't think there's a single writer who influences me.

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.

Oceanography is a terrific career because gradually we seem to be coming around to realize that we had better become as acquainted with the seventy percent of our planet that is covered by water as we are with the dark side of the moon.

The great fish moved silently through the night water.