R.I.P J.W. Rinzler, Star Wars & Indiana Jones Author/Historian

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

Star Wars, Indiana Jones Author JW Rinzler Dies at Age 58 (gizmodo.com)

[Datameister 2,037]

So sad. RIP. 😞

[crumbs 14,301]

Just awful, way too young. Rest in peace

[Holko 9,499]

And still working to the last, Alien, Aliens...

[crocodile 7,984]

RIP.

 

 

His books were the very golden standard of how you handle making of publications. Stunning attention to detail and giving you an almost fly on the wall type of an experience. I did enjoy his later books too. Still need to finish the Aliens one. 

 

I do hope his making of The Shining book will see the light of the day. It has been announced a couple of years ago and is supposed to be his most throughly researched work yet. 

 

And I do look forward to his biography of Howard Kazanijan that's coming out in September. 

 

Karol

[SteveMc 2,674]

RIP

[Chen G. 3,943]

4 hours ago, crocodile said:

His books were the very golden standard of how you handle making of publications. Stunning attention to detail and giving you an almost fly on the wall type of an experience.

 

One's milleage may vary, but De mortuis nihil nisi bonum, so...

[Tallguy 3,378]

I saw this. Sad news. Too young. 

 

Anyone who feels that his books were just rah rah puff pieces should read his books on Empire and Jedi back to back. Lucas comes off brilliantly in Empire and then seems to fall apart in Jedi. 

[Arpy 4,145]

Sad to hear - I was hoping one day his insights into the Disney SW films would be released.

[Bespin 8,480]

Aurhor/Historians documenting my world are from my family.

 

Good bye, farewell, good bye, farewell! 🙁

[Bilbo 3,709]

14 hours ago, crocodile said:

His books were the very golden standard of how you handle making of publications. Stunning attention to detail and giving you an almost fly on the wall type of an experience.

Indeed. They are probably the definitive Making Of accounts of the Star Wars trilogy. 
 

58 is no age at all. 
 

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

So sad, and far too young. I enjoyed reading his making of Star Wars & Indy books immensely. Despite being  "Lucasfilm approved" accounts (and unfairly criticized for this), Rinzler still managed to make them insightful and, I thought, well-balanced. He was a good writer and his death is a loss to the film community.

 

But he's part of the Star Wars family, and no one in Star Wars is ever truly read. RIP J.W. Rinzler, the Force will be with you. Always.

[crocodile 7,984]

If they were indeed Lucasfilm friendly products then how come Lucas comes off as such a jerk in the Jedi book? I suppose Rinzler was primarily a historian and archivist and his books reflected the actual contents of the Lucasfilm archives rather than anyone's interpretation of it. 

 

He did reach out to Marcia Lucas and she did contribute to his latest book so perhaps it will shed some light on her own perspective. Assuming it is the Marcia-less issue we're talking about. 

 

Either way, it's still more thorough and candid than the majority of these types of publications. Disney would never allow it and Rinzler hinted at it when asked about the cancelled TFA book. 

 

Karol

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

14 minutes ago, crocodile said:

If they were indeed Lucasfilm friendly products then how come Lucas comes off as such a jerk in the Jedi book?

 

He was a Lucasfilm employee (Executive Editor) for 15 years, including when he wrote his Star Wars & Indy books.

[Luke Skywalker 1,792]

sad news, i just read yesterday that he was ill

[SilverTrumpet 638]

2 hours ago, crocodile said:

Either way, it's still more thorough and candid than the majority of these types of publications. Disney would never allow it and Rinzler hinted at it when asked about the cancelled TFA book. 

 

 

It seemed a lot more than a hint. Seemed like they didn't want anything negative about TFA getting out and that's why they canned the book so publicly. 

[mstrox 6,647]

4 hours ago, crocodile said:

If they were indeed Lucasfilm friendly products then how come Lucas comes off as such a jerk in the Jedi book? I suppose Rinzler was primarily a historian and archivist and his books reflected the actual contents of the Lucasfilm archives rather than anyone's interpretation of it.

For what it’s worth, it’s Lucasfilm-friendly in the sense that Lucas had things changed as a bit of revisionist history!

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/so-what-the-heck-are-midi-chlorians

 

Quote

[Please note: While we were preparing the text for The Making of Star Wars, Lucas added a note to this passage about midi-chlorians, bringing his original words in line with his later thoughts and the events of the prequel trilogy.]

Note that this was an in-text edit, not a footnote or endnote.  The only proof of this is on this blog entry.

[Tallguy 3,378]

2 hours ago, mstrox said:

For what it’s worth, it’s Lucasfilm-friendly in the sense that Lucas had things changed as a bit of revisionist history!

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/so-what-the-heck-are-midi-chlorians

 

Note that this was an in-text edit, not a footnote or endnote.  The only proof of this is on this blog entry.

 

It's been 14 years since I read it (!) but I remember how much that line jumped out at me. The rest of the book felt very contemporaneous with 1977 and detached from the later history of Star Wars. Which was why I loved it. Then I read that and I knew I smelled a George.

[Chen G. 3,943]

2 hours ago, mstrox said:

For what it’s worth, it’s Lucasfilm-friendly in the sense that Lucas had things changed as a bit of revisionist history!

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/so-what-the-heck-are-midi-chlorians

 

 

Exactly the sort of stuff I was getting at.

 

Also, all those supposed sketches of nine and twelve film series, which are clearly fabrications of Lucas'.

[crocodile 7,984]

Just now, Chen G. said:

 

Exactly the sort of stuff I was getting at.

 

Also, all those supposed sketches of nine and twelve film series, which are clearly fabrications of Lucas'.

And what is your source for that? 

 

Karol

[Chen G. 3,943]

Rinzler had shared said "sketch":

 

 

How convenient is it that all the episode other than the the original film (already completed) are left completely blank? Its a document written entirely around exisitng films, and as a proof of Lucas' supposed "grand plan" its a complete non sequitor, and yet its presented as one.