When you finish something that you once thought impossible, one tends to want to thank every person that they have ever crossed paths with. So, a special thank you to everyone. If your name is not listed here, then I owe you lunch. Except for Joel Trudgeon, Casey Alexander, and David Gerhard. You owe me.
I’d especially like to acknowledge my parents, Al and Debi Napzok, and my sister Katie as well as my nephew Ryu and niece LeMuria. Thank you for letting a young kid fall soul first into a space movie. The Force is strong in my family.
Thank you to Jim Dellinger and the entire Dellinger family. I was a small-town kid lost in the big city when my Uncle Jim pulled me under his protective wing. I’m still here because of that.
To Nick and Liz Napzok, thank you for always being in the front row to support me. Uncle Nick, you may have left us too early for our tastes, but I still hear your laughter and encouragement.
To my cousin Michelle and her husband Randy. Thanks for your support and those drinks in the Anaheim hotel bar that one time. After this, I hope your girls Maggie and Madeline will still think I’m as cool as I think they are.
Thanks to my friend and writing partner Matt Key. There’s been a lot of times over the years I was convinced I couldn’t write anything ever again. A good lunch consisting of several baskets of chips and salsa and encouraging talks with you would always inspire me to keep writing.
To my spiritual brother Paul Ventimiglia and the Ventimiglia family. Life has no safety net, but your unwavering support always feels like one. One time during a professional wrestling match, I was staring up at you seconds before you were about to jump twenty feet down onto me and realized I never felt safer. We shall finish the game, pal.
I would not be in the position to write this book if I didn’t take my first steps into a larger world back in 2012 (just weeks before Disney bought Lucasfilm!). Kristian Harloff and Mark Ellis, who somehow thought this old radio DJ told enough funny jokes on stand-up stages around Los Angeles, asked me to produce their podcast Schmoes Know Movies. From there began a wild, unplanned journey into the media discussion world. If one person not related to me reads this book, it’s because Kristian and Mark asked me to join them on an adventure all those years ago. Thanks, ya Schmoes.
Thanks to the SK crew through the years. Mark Reilly, Josh Macuga, Joe Ruggirello, Josh Tapia, Christian Ruvalcaba, Cody Hall, Robert Butler III, Andres Cabrera, Brian Perez, Max Mulderrig, Miri Jedeikin, Roxy Striar, and Tiffany Smith. Phase 3 for life.
A special thanks to Maude Garrett. In 2014, we put our Star Wars fandom on display every week as part of the show Jedi Alliance. It was silly, loud, jokey, nerdy, and some of the most fun I have ever had being a fan. I will always be happy that I first talked about Star Wars professionally while at your side. Star Pause!
I can’t say enough about Joseph Scrimshaw and Jennifer Landa. We began working on the ForceCenter podcast in 2015 and not a week has gone by without the two of you teaching me something about Star Wars. Whether it’s different perspectives, deeper themes, or the absolute joy of Ewoks or the silliness of a made-up character brawl, I fall more in love with this franchise each week because of what you both bring to the discussions. During an overwhelming and often challenging time in the fandom, you both put the love of Star Wars first. Yub Nub.
In the summer of 2018, I had lunch with my good friend Alicia Malone, author of Backward and in Heels and The Female Gaze. I muttered to her that I wanted to write a book. Alicia believed I could and graciously said she would write her editor at Mango Publishing. Within a few days, I had begun this journey. I am forever grateful to you, Leash.
Thank you to Hugo Villabona and Robin Miller at Mango Publishing. You made this happen. Literally. Your patience and guidance made me calm while your notes made everything better. That Mango Publishing crew is pretty special.
A giant thanks to Heather Grace Hancock for your love and support every day—but especially the days I would show up at your doorstep after having just screamed to myself that I couldn’t write this book. You believed in me when I no longer did. Thank you for that…and for letting Ratsy and Baxter into my life, even when they bite me or steal my wine. I love you.
And, finally, thank you to all who have created, written, performed, directed, and contributed to Star Wars. This is truly the greatest saga ever told. Which, of course, means we all have to give a special thanks to George Lucas. George, if you hadn’t grabbed a pencil and pad of paper to start writing about those Adventures of Luke Starkiller over forty years ago, not one word of this book would exist and my childhood—my entire life—would have been a lot less fun. Thank you.
1 Yes. I know. Wedge was also played by Colin Higgins in the briefing room scene during A New Hope and David Ankrum provided the voice for the character later in the battle as well as voiced him in an uncredited cameo in 2016’s Rogue One. Nathan Kress voiced him on Star Wars Rebels. However, make no mistake: Denis Lawson is Wedge Antilles to all of us.
2 Yes, I’m completely summarizing everything about those episodes because they’re so dense with Chosen One lore you need a fog lamp to find the shore.
3 Not for nothing, but Hayden Christensen shines in this scene. The trademark brooding and stoic nature works here. Those tears are earned.
4 The soundtrack to The Phantom Menace was released on May 4, 1999, two weeks before the film. Rabid fans raced out to once booming stores to purchase the soundtrack on CD only to discover one of John Williams’ tracks was titled “Qui-Gon’s Noble End.” Even if that didn’t convince you that Qui-Gon’s fate was sealed, the next track was titled “The High Council and Qui-Gon’s Funeral.” Yep, good chance Qui-Gon wasn’t making it out of this movie alive.
5 Do yourself a favor and reread the death of Darth Vader in James Kahn’s 1983 novelization of Return of the Jedi. The heart wrenching description of Vader feeling the tears of his son on his face as he breathes his final breath adds tremendous depth to an already legendary movie moment.