Editorial

Also available at www.friendsintheforce.com

I've been fortunate enough to meet four performers from Star Wars, and I'm glad to report that they were all very friendly and eager to talk with their fans.

I met Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew, of R2-D2 and Chewbacca fame, at a toy expo in Pennsylvania. This was several years ago-before any talk even started about the prequels-so I couldn't get any information about that. Because it was the end of the day, Mayhew wasn't very talkative, but I did get an autograph and the chance to meet the man who played Chewbacca in person. Baker, on the other hand, was very sociable and, seeing that nobody else was in line, stood and chatted with me for awhile. I now have both of their autographed pictures hanging in my workroom.

At a later convention, also in Pennsylvania, I met with Caroline Blakiston and Femi Taylor, obviously better known as Mon Mothma and Oola.

Taylor is a very friendly and engaging woman with a lovely accent. Since, again, it was the end of the day and no one else was waiting to speak with her, I was able to stand around and chat for quite some time.

It was a great treat and honour for me to meet Caroline Blakiston. She's a quiet, personable actress, whom, I was surprised to learn, has kept up with the events in the novels as far as her character was concerned. She told me so many fans had written about them in her fan mail, she got curious and started reading the books. She has a great respect for fans of the saga; more so, I believe, than the other three performers I met. I talked with her for almost an hour-she was one of the few people I've met with whom I've instantly connected. Even though I'll probably never see her again, I know that day I got more than an autograph-I also made a friend.

If you want to meet any of the SW actors or actresses, going to a convention or toy expo is understandably to the best way to do it; it's also far less embarrassing or offensive to them then trying to go to their home or meeting them on the street. If you're not spending the day, I recommend going closer to the end of the day. Certainly, they'll be tired, but it increases your chances of actually getting to speak with them, rather than being rushed through the autograph line.

I consider myself lucky to have met four of the talented people who helped to make the Star Wars saga the best movies of all time, and I'm hoping to meet more in the months to come!