Part oral history, part coffee table photo book, Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard is
all awesome. Writer Matt Taylor and memorabilia maven Jim Beller assembled a
lush tribute to the sharky blockbuster busting with recollections from the
Martha’s Vineyard locals who appeared before and behind the camera and a slew
of amazing archival materials. There’s a current shot of the somewhat desiccated
bust of Ben Gardener that made movie goers toss their popcorn and their cookies
in 1975 and an even more incredible biography of Gardener-portrayer Craig
Kingsbury, a guy once arrested for drunk driving an ox cart. His defense against
the charges is both rational and hilarious. Indeed, Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard is a really funny book because
the Martha’s Vineyard crowd is such a colorful bunch and the production was wrought
with disasters that can only be portrayed comically in the hindsight of Jaws’ phenomenal success. Plus, there’s
a photo of the real Mary Ellen Moffet! She broke my heart.
Originally published in 2011, Titan Books has just released
the second edition of Jaws: Memories from
Martha’s Vineyard with an additional sixteen pages of great stuff.
