I need to thank a number of people for various things:
Geoff Birt, for convincing me (against what I thought was my better judgement) to go and see Star Wars that first time in 1977
Randy Simpson, for keeping me interested in all of this through The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and for being a good friend above all else
my Mom and Dad, who somehow managed to put up with all of my Star Wars posters and paraphenalia (even though most of it failed to survive my college years), allowing my imagination to grow unabated
Roger MacBride Allen, Aaron Allston, Cynthia Alvares, Kevin J. Anderson, Jim Austin, Terry Austin, Wayne Douglas Barlowe, Mike Baron, Mike W. Barr, Doug Beason, Richard Beban, M. Shayne Bell, John Gregory Betancourt, David Bischoff, Bonnie Bogart, Leigh Brackett, Terry Brooks, Mark Budz, Ben Burtt, Justin Chin, A.C. Crispin, Brian Daley, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes, Hollace Davids, Paul Davids, Rusel DeMaria, William C. Dietz, Mary Jo Duffy, George Alec Effinger, Marina Fitch, Kenneth C. Flint, Alan Dean Foster, Esther Friesner, Donald Glut, Archie Goodwin, Barbara Hambly, Lawrence Holland, Peet Janes, K.W. Jeter, Shane Johnson, Joe Johnston, Bruce Jones, James Kahn, Lawrence Kasdan, Edward Kilham, Michael P. Kube-McDowell, Vincent Lee, Darko Macan, Daryl F. Mallett, Dave Manak, Andy Mangels, Russ Manning, Vonda McIntyre, Davis Micheline, Rebecca Moesta, J.D. Montgomery, Alan Moore, Steve Moore, Daniel Keys Moran, Ann Nocenti, Jerry Oltion, Steve Parkhouse, Steve Perry, Kristine Kathrine Rausch, Michael Reaves, Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Judith Reeves-Stevens, Mike Richardson, Nancy Richardson, Roy Richardson, Geraldine Richelson, Jennifer Roberson, Steve Sansweet, Peter Sauder, Louise Simonson, L. Neil Smith, Michael Stackpole, Shep Steneman, John Stephenson, Randy Stradley, Jan Strnad, Hisao Tamaki, Roy Thomas, Dan Thorsland, Scott Tolson, Kathy Tyers, Mark Cotta Vaz, Martha Veitch, Tom Veitch, Raymond L. Velasco, Joan D. Vinge, John Wagner, Dan Wallace, Rod Warren, Jude Watson, Len Wein, Larry Weinberg, Ellen Weiss, Ken and Jim Wheat, Deborah Wheeler, John, Whitman, Sam Wilson, Ryder Windham, Dave Wolverton, Jim Woodring, Linda Woolverton, Steven Wright, Walter Wright, William F. Wu, Patricia Wynne, and (last, but not least!) Timothy Zahn, for the many additions they've written to the Star Wars universe (I hope I didn’t forget anyone...)
Paul Balsamo, Jim Bambra, John Beyer, Grant Boucher, Julie Boucher, Thomas Bowling, Dustin Browder, Phil Brucato, Kathy Burdette, Laurie Burns, James Cambias, Drew Campbell, C. Robert Carey, Douglas S. Carey, William B. Carey, Jonatha Caspian, Deborah Christian, Barbara and Richard Clark, Greg Costikyan, Steven Crane, Paul Danner, J. Michael Denbo, Troy Denning, Chris Doyle, John Dunivant, Erin Endom, Sean Fannon, J. Allan Fawcett, Nigel D. Finley, Brad Freeman, Ivan Garczunski, Lee Garvin, Steve Gilbert, Carolyn Golledge, Greg Gorden, Linda Grant, Daniel Greenberg, Rich Handley, Gary Haynes, Harry L. Heckel, Scott Heinig, Shane Hensley, Sterling Hershey, Pablo Hidalgo, Ron Hodge, Matthew Hong, Michael Allen Horn, Carol Hutchings, Wayne Humfleet, Patricia A. Jackson, Rob Jenkins, Douglas Kaufman, Janelle Keberle, Stephen Kenson, Robert Kern, Jason Knizley, Michael Kogge, Christopher Kubasik, J.E. Lauterio, Paul Arden Lidberg, Steven H. Lorenz, Stephen Liminati, Dave Marron, Nora Mayers, Jon McCabe, Michael Mikaelian, Joshua A. Miller, Steve Miller, Tom Moldvay, Brian J. Murphy, Paul Murphy, Todd Stewart Murray, Charlene Newcomb, Michael Nystul, Timothy S. O'Brien, William Olmesdahl, Rick Olshak, Chris Olson, Angela Phillips, J.P. Pietrzak, Tom Pixley, Louis J. Prosperi, Todd Quigley, Jean Rabe, Nicky Rea, Mark Rein-Hagen, John J. Richardson III, Ken Rolston, Anthony P. Russo, Brian Schomberg, Peter Schweighofer, Jen Seiden, Doug Shuler, Bill Slavicsek, Lisa Smedman, Bill Smith, Curtis Smith, Simon Smith, Brian Smithson, Chuck Sperati, Ed Stark, Michael Stern, George R. Strayton, Rick D. Stuart, Paul Sudlow, James Taylor, John Terra, Philip Tobin, C.J. Tramontana, Eric Trautmann, Chuck Truett, Dan Tulo, Jr., Dan Verssen, M.H. Watkins, William Wenz, Stewart Werley, Stewart Wieck, Trevor J. Wiulson, Ray Winninger, Martin Wixted, Thomas Woods, Peter Woodworth, Joanne Wyrick, and all the folks at West End Games, for taking the small Star Wars universe and expanding it into a role-playing game (again, I hope I didn’t forget anyone)
Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, Allen Nunis, Killian Plunkett, Drew Sturzan, Mike Vilardi, for brining the characters to life beyond the films themselves (again, I hope I didn’t forget anyone)
the Wake and Durham County, NC, Libraries, for providing me access to some of the source materials listed in the bibliography
Dan Wallace, for his Planets Guide (http://ourworld.compuserve.com:80/homepages/jedi) and The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons and The Essential Guide to Droids. Thanks for your help with the chronology!
Rich Handley, for his Exhaustive Guide to Star Wars Comics (http://www.asb.com/usr/cardsafe/intro.htm) - where are you?
Mike Beidler, for his Star Wars Literature Compendium (http://www.asb.com/usr/cardsafe/mbcomp.html)
John Bartos, for his growing list of starships
The members of the New Sim Universe (http://www.nsu.tierranet.com), for their use and promotion of the encyclopedia
Detonus, Elaragua, Jeff Emery, Mike Farnham, Kewin Kubryk, NarCranr, OdanUrr224, RaneNordel, Robroj, Rafal Ruta, David Schaffner, SWKeith, Brian Taylor, Satoe Yasutaka, and all the folks who have visited the Completely Unofficial Star Wars Encyclopedia website...keep the comments and questions coming!
Ken & Rita Ritchie and the crew at Heroes and Villians in Apex, NC, for keeping my collection of comics up to date - best of luck in the future!
Tony Sacarello and the gang at Triangle Cards and Comics in Wake Forest, NC, for keeping my collection of cards up to date
Lance Worth at Star Force Collectibles (http://www.starwarsstore.com), for easy access to the latest West End Games material - best of luck in your future endeavors
my wife, Jill, who thinks I'm weird and loves me all the same
and, of course, George Lucas, for creating all of this, and for sharing it all with us
Dedication
This encyclopedia is dedicated to my kids, Jennifer and Meghan, as a reminder that their imaginations don't have to dwindle just because they grow older.