William Peter Blatty, Author Of 'The Exorcist,' Dies At 89

William Peter Blatty, Author Of 'The Exorcist,' Dies At 89 William Peter Blatty was a senior at Georgetown University in 1949 when he heard the extraordinary story that, more than two decades later, would change his life - and scare the devil out of everyone else. One of the priests at the university told him about a case from nearby Prince George's County in which a 14-year-old boy

seemed to be possessed by a demon. After months of solemn rites of exorcism by Catholic priests, the demon appeared to be expelled.

Blatty went on to sell vacuum cleaners, drive a beer truck and serve in the Air Force before becoming a comic novelist and a screenwriter in Hollywood. Years later, out of work and out of ideas, he sat down at a typewriter and, as if possessed himself, wrote "The Exorcist."

Changing the central character to a 12-year-old girl living in Georgetown, he produced a dark theological thriller that became an international blockbuster when it was published in 1971. The 1973 film version, for which Blatty won an Academy Award for his screenplay, revolutionized the genre of horror movies and, thanks to head-spinning special effects and the acting of young Linda Blair, became a pop-culture phenomenon.

Blatty, 89, died Jan. 12 at a hospital near his home in Bethesda, Maryland. The cause was multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, said his wife, Julie Blatty.