William Peter Blatty

2020-01-12

William Peter Blatty
January 7, 1928 – January 12, 2017

William Peter Blatty was a well educated author from New York City who holds the distinction of being the person who first scared the crap out of me as a young adult. At that time I was pretty brazen and jaded and "thought" I had seen every spin on everything I ever would envision.

Then I was hit with The Exorcist and I closed my ignorant mouth and opened my closed mind to things which may be extant, yet beyond my sphere of existence.

Having been one of the biggest box office hits of all time the story was based loosly on what were purported to be actual events.

Linda Blair grossed me out as the green split pea soup vomiting, levitating, speaking in tongues, progressively hideous demon possessed little girl and the only relief I received regarding these images arrived via a Richard Pryor monologue which diffused things and gave me a bit of breathing room.

Suffice it to say that the entire topic of exorcism and being possessed by demons is one of those matters I tend to tiptoe around to this day.

Mr Blatty won an oscar for the screenplay adaptation of his book.

I think I got a nice big herpes from the stress the movie placed upon me.

Mr Blatty passed from multiple myeloma in January of 2017 in Bethesda, Maryland. Rest in peace.