Winifred "Wendy" Benchley ( 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
Peter Bradford Benchley (May 8, 1940 – February 11, 2006) was an American author. He is best known for his bestselling novel '' Jaws'' and co-wrote its movie adaptation with Carl Gottlieb. Several more of his works were also adapted for both ...
.
Early life
Wendy Wesson was born and raised in
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse ...
, 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
Skidmore College is a Private school, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,700 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Scien ...
where she majored in philosophy and psychology.
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.
Political and environmental activism
While in
Pennington, New Jersey, Peter Benchley wrote the novel
''Jaws'', which became a critical and commercial success. 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. Wendy Benchley served as a board member of the
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Defense Fund or EDF (formerly known as Environmental Defense) is a United States–based nonprofit environmental advocacy group. The group is known for its work on issues including global warming, ecosystem restoration, oceans, an ...
(EDF) from 1986 to 2006 and Peter was an EDF spokesperson. They made appearances together to speak about protecting sharks and conservation. 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
The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...
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.
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. 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.
2006–present
Peter Benchley died of pulmonary fibrosis on February 11, 2006, at the couple's home in
Princeton, New Jersey
The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...
. 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”, the Peter Benchley Ocean Awards recognize outstanding achievements in the area of ocean conservation. The awards were originally a project of
Blue Frontier but they later became a separate organization headed by Benchley and Helvarg. 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.
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. 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. In 2011, Benchley married John Jepson III, the grandson of industrialist
John Jeppson.
Awards and recognition
Benchley was awarded the 2014
SeaKeeper Award and was inducted into the
Women Divers Hall of Fame in 2015. Benchley received the 2016 Beneath the Sea, Diver of the Year Award for environmentalism 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.
Personal life
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.
They later had a son named Clayton in 1969, and a third child, Christopher, in 1987.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Benchley, Wendy
1941 births
Living people
American conservationists
Montclair High School (New Jersey) alumni
People from Montclair, New Jersey
New Jersey city council members
People from Pennington, New Jersey
People from Princeton, New Jersey
Skidmore College alumni
Women city councillors in New Jersey
21st-century American women
Women Divers Hall of Fame