Who is Peter Benchley from Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 and what is their importance?

Peter Benchley, author of "Jaws," based his novel in part on the attacks on the Jersey coast in 1916 by a great white shark. Benchley appeared at a hearing in Australia, pleading with the council not to hunt down and slaughter a great white that had killed a young swimmer. His depiction of the great white, he told them, was not representative of the true behavior of a great white—they were not man-eaters.