In February, 2009 StarWars.com interviewed Bob Miller, creator of the most expansive known bibliography of Star Wars related books, newspaper articles, comic books and magazines.
For this companion piece we spoke with Lita Sheldon, author and compiler of A Star Wars Bibliography, self-published in February of 1980 and revised for an April, 1987 edition.
Ms. Sheldon is News Manager for NorthWest Indian News, a cooperative media outlet for indigenous peoples of the Northwest. She was gracious and enthusiastic about sharing her collecting story.
What was your first awareness of Star Wars?
My friend Jean dragged me downtown to see a new science fiction film. We stood outside this Cinerama Theater in Seattle and it started to rain. I said "Jean, we've been standing out here for an hour, this had better be some movie!" She took me to Star Wars to see the look on my face when that Imperial ship comes on. Man, I was hooked after that!
In fact, A Star Wars Bibliography is dedicated "to Jean...the best star-pilot in the galaxy..." What got you started collecting?
I thought this was a terrific movie, and I wanted to find out what other people thought. Did they agree with my opinion of the movie? So I started collecting reviews of Star Wars. Of course there was no internet, so I had to find them through the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, the big green book. For some reason, I felt the need to Xerox these things and keep a copy. I collected reviews, then other articles and I just kept collecting.
Did you have friends that were collecting stuff or did you know other collectors?
No, actually I really didn't. I was the only fool. You know I could have been buying Microsoft stock, but no... I was collecting the fanzines. I loved the idea that people were writing their own stories using these characters that I loved. It was a great introduction to the world of fandom, and that it's ok to be a fan.
After I got my master's degree, I went to the Navajo Reservation where I stayed for 10 years. It was remote, so I was doing everything by mail. It was really great, heading over to the little post office trailer to see what fanzines came in. It was a link to another universe.
The Bibliography came from my list of fanzines, my personal collection. I really wanted to find every fanzine that had ever been written about Star Wars. I even made photo copies of my Bibliography and tried to sell it at the first Star Wars convention in L.A.
Do you still have copies left in boxes?
I think I do. Unfortunately I wasn't able to capture the digital file because it was proprietary, from a PDP-11 computer -- very old. I did get feedback from the Bibliography people who had shared their lists with me.
One guy wrote back and made all sorts of corrections. Forry Ackerman sent me a check for $50.00 and said "send [the Bibliography] to these people." That was wonderful for my ego.
Was there ever a "Holy Grail" piece for your collection?
No, because I was just copying stuff that was printed.
In the introduction to your Bibliography, you said "There are many more items I want to add to my collection..." Did you keep collecting after April, 1987?
After getting married and having kids and having to spend money on my family, I thought "OK, I can no longer afford my Star Wars habit. I have to grow up or something." It just kind of fell to the wayside as I was dealing with diapers... real life was interfering with my fan life!
Do you have a favorite piece? Something that stuck out above the others, that was either more personal or more relevant or more exciting or artistically more interesting to you?
There are a number of fanzines that I liked, a number of stories that were rather well done. Of course I can't remember any of the names. Of the material things that I bought, I am really in love with my R2-D2 cookie jar! The other thing I really liked was my Darth Vader phone.
Also in the introduction, you said your collection started with Starlog #13 (May, 1978), which you bought for the interview with David Prowse. Do you still have that same copy?
I'm sure I do, because I just kept dragging them with me. I never thought they would be worth something, they were only important to me. By the way, I am just tickled pink that somebody put up the Bibliography on eBay, and even more tickled that somebody actually bought it.
Check out the Star Wars Buzz series this and the Bob Miller bibliographies helped to compile.
