THE MAN BEHIND JAWS: PETER BENCHLEY’S PERSONAL COLLECTION COMES TO AUCTION

Jaws memorabilia, typewriters, White House mementos, diving gear, manuscripts and objects from Benchley’s life offered October 29, benefiting ocean conservation

LINCOLN PARK, NJ, UNITED STATES, October 7, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — More than 50 years after Jaws became a publishing sensation, transformed Hollywood and changed the way millions viewed the ocean, the personal collection of the man behind the story is coming to auction.

On Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. ET, Willow Auction House will present The Peter Benchley Collection: Jaws, A Life of Writing, A Legacy of Stories, featuring nearly 300 lots from the personal collection of Peter Benchley (1940–2006).

The auction offers a rare look at Benchley not only as the bestselling author of Jaws, but also as a White House speechwriter, traveler, diver, collector and ocean conservationist.

Proceeds from the auction will benefit WildAid and Beneath the Sea, supporting marine conservation, ocean education and exploration.

Highlights include original Jaws production photographs and memorabilia, Benchley’s 1975 Jaws one-sheet movie poster, personal typewriters, books, research materials, awards and personal effects, as well as an original Jaws T-shirt gifted directly to Benchley by director Steven Spielberg.

But Jaws was only one chapter of Benchley’s remarkable life.

Before becoming a bestselling novelist, Benchley served as a speechwriter for President Lyndon B. Johnson. The collection includes White House photographs, presentation pieces and personal material connected with President Johnson and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, including signed and inscribed photographs.

Several pieces were recently exhibited at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, as part of the 2025 exhibition From the White House to the Deep Ocean: LBJ, Jaws and Conservation. They include Benchley’s White House place card, professional identification and personal desk items.

The auction also explores the Benchley family legacy. Peter was the son of author and artist Nathaniel Benchley and grandson of writer and humorist Robert Benchley. The collection includes paintings by Nathaniel Benchley and an original pen-and-ink drawing of the family by celebrated caricaturist Al Hirschfeld.

Benchley was also an avid collector of history and art. Highlights include a 13th-century French vellum Bible leaf, a royal decree signed by Philip II of Spain, documents associated with Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, and an early copy of The Massachusetts Spy.

His lifelong fascination with the sea is reflected throughout the auction.

Maritime works include Christopher Blossom’s Ship Allerton and Thomas Hoyne’s First and Saucy, each with a pre-sale estimate of $6,000–$8,000, along with marine paintings, maps, photographs and nautical artifacts.

The collection also includes Benchley’s diving equipment, Henderson titanium wetsuit, shark teeth, fossils and archaeological artifacts recovered by Peter and Wendy Benchley, including objects associated with Bermuda shipwrecks.

After Jaws became a worldwide phenomenon, Benchley grew increasingly concerned about public fear of sharks and spent much of his later life educating people about them and advocating for marine conservation.

Photographs of Benchley diving with sharks and manta rays, together with his diving gear and marine collections, document the evolution of the man who wrote the world’s most famous shark story into one of the ocean’s most passionate defenders.

“This collection tells a much bigger story than Jaws,” said Jill Iorio of Willow Auction House. “You see Peter Benchley as a writer, White House speechwriter, traveler, historian, diver and conservationist. There are things from his desk, things he wore, things he collected and even artifacts he recovered underwater. It feels less like an auction and more like walking through the story of his life.”

From a gift from Steven Spielberg to a White House place card, from literary material to artifacts brought home from beneath the sea, the collection offers a personal connection to the man behind a cultural phenomenon.

The Peter Benchley Collection: Jaws, A Life of Writing, A Legacy of Stories will be offered by Willow Auction House on Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. ET, in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, with online bidding available.

Jill Iorio
Willow Transitions and Auction House
+1 862-895-5700
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Jaws items from Peter Benchley to be auctioned at Willow Auction House

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