Jonathan Rinzler, who wrote several making-of books aboutStar Wars,Indiana Jones, andThe Shiningunder the pen nameJ.W. Rinzler, died after an 11-month battle with pancreatic cancer, his daughterSarah Rinzlerannounced in a tweet on Wednesday. He was 58.
“Jonathan passed away on July 28th after a nearly one-year battle with pancreatic cancer,” Rinzler wroteon her father’s Twitter page. “Thank you to all for your support and love.” Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects company founded byStar WarscreatorGeorge Lucas, memorialized Rinzler’s deathin 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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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 obituarywritten by the Rinzler family mentions that “Rinzler had a prodigious career as a bestselling author of cinematic history books aboutStar 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 ofStar Wars-related publications, includingThe 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, andThe Sounds of Star Wars.”
Others who tweeted about Rinzler’s death includedBryan Fuller, the creator of shows such asPushing Daisies,Hannibal,andStar Trek: Discovery, whothanked the writer for his workand wrote that “many of his books” are on his shelf. In addition to his non-fiction works, which included making-of books aboutPlanet of the ApesandAliens, Rinzler wrote two novels, the No. 1 best-selling graphic novelThe Star Wars, which he co-authored with artistMike Mayhew, and the space history novelAll Up.
The writer is survived by his wifeGenevieve 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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