Jonathan Rinzler, who wrote several making-of books about Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and The Shining under the pen name J.W. Rinzler, died after an 11-month battle with pancreatic cancer, his daughter Sarah Rinzler announced in a tweet on Wednesday. He was 58.

“Jonathan passed away on July 28th after a nearly one-year battle with pancreatic cancer,” Rinzler wrote on her father’s Twitter page. “Thank you to all for your support and love.” Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects company founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas, memorialized Rinzler’s death in a tweet. “We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our close friend and supremely talented author, Jonathan W. Rinzler. J.W. masterfully chronicled many Lucasfilm projects over the years. He will be missed dearly,” they wrote.

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Image via Lucasfilm

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Rinzler was born in 1962 and attended Berkeley High School. He graduated from New York University with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in comparative literature. An obituary written by the Rinzler family mentions that "Rinzler had a prodigious career as a bestselling author of cinematic history books about Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and other 20th century blockbuster films. He joined Lucasfilm in 2001 and became the executive editor of its publishing arm, Lucasbooks. Over 15 years, he authored an extensive body of Star Wars-related publications, including The Making of Star Wars (a New York Times bestseller), The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, The Making of Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: The Blueprints, and The Sounds of Star Wars."

Others who tweeted about Rinzler's death included Bryan Fuller, the creator of shows such as Pushing Daisies, Hannibal, and Star Trek: Discovery, who thanked the writer for his work and wrote that “many of his books” are on his shelf. In addition to his non-fiction works, which included making-of books about Planet of the Apes and Aliens, Rinzler wrote two novels, the No. 1 best-selling graphic novel The Star Wars, which he co-authored with artist Mike Mayhew, and the space history novel All Up.

The writer is survived by his wife Genevieve Rinzler, who revealed his cancer diagnosis in July 2020; his daughters Sarah and Judith; grandson Henry; siblings Ben, Peter, Ari, and Daniel; and parents Alan and Marilyn.

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