Posted on 01/13/2017 10:15:24 AM PST by Cecily
William Peter Blatty, an author whose novel “The Exorcist” and his later screenplay for the 1973 film about a demonic possession became a phenomenon and stirred fierce public debate about the occult, died Jan. 12 at a hospital near his home in Bethesda, Md. He was 89.
The cause was a form of multiple myeloma, said his wife, Julie Witbrodt Blatty.
Mr. Blatty was a junior at Georgetown University when, in 1949, he became mesmerized by a Washington Post story detailing the alleged exorcism by a Jesuit priest of a 14-year-old boy from Mount Rainier, Md. who was believed to be possessed by a demon.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Why is Mount Rainier in Maryland and not in Washington?
Didn’t the priest just die as well?
That Linda Blair turned a few heads.....her own.
Blatty’s fans are legion.
Plate tectonics? Bush's Fault? Trump's fault
My mother had multiple myeloma....luckily it never cause her the pain that most people have.
R.I.P.
Specifically Ronald Hunkeler lived in Cottage City, which is only a few blocks big.
I remember getting cold chills reading that book on a hot summer day.
RIP. I bet he wished he could have died on Fri the 13th though.
ping
Thats the only movie that really scared me... still does. Though I dont believe in such things.. weird.
This is VERY strange!
Catholic priest who inspired The Exorcist died from a fall after a ‘possessed’ child spoke to him and he was ‘pushed over by an invisible force’, CIA agent claims
Anyone ever see “The Ninth Configuration?” Another WPB screenplay that I always thought was thought-provoking. RIP
“Why is Mount Rainier in Maryland and not in Washington?”
The town of Mt. Rainier, MD, was founded in 1910 by some Army officers from Washington State. I grew up there. We pronounce it “RAIN-yer” vice “rah-NEER” like they do the mountain.
I was around 13 when that movie came out and incredibly my parents took me to see it and WOW, talk about “mind blown”...I don’t think I slept for a week afterwards terrified I was going to be possessed and it seems I wasn’t the only one - what was interesting is the pews in my church were more crowded than usual after it came out. Today I don’t know if that would happen being that we know now the devil possessed the Democratic party.
RIP Mr. Blatty. Enjoyed your work.
"Former CIA agent Mr Marrow retracted the steps to Connecticut where Father Martin had offered to carry out an exorcism on the four-year-old girl."
Looks like The Daily Mail needs to hire some editors too. Or perhaps English is being de-emphasized in England.
It keeps getting funnier, every single time I see it.
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