In 1981, a little ginger boy with translucent skin and a mouth full of crooked teeth became one of the youngest authors of a volume of cinematic criticism in the history of publishing. His name was Rusty Miller -- what else for a red-head? -- and resembling something like a young Dr. Venture, the 12-year-old was the author of The Jedi Master's Quizbook... "425 Cosmis Questions & Answers About Star Wars & The Empire Strikes Back!"
It was a smash literary debut for a pre-pubescent and the world clamored for the sequel. But none came. Rusty Miller and his genius faded into obscurity as the young artist fell off the map even as 1983's Return of the Jedi afforded him obvious inspiration for a follow-up!
What happened to this pint-sized literary maverick? For decades, Star Wars fans have wondered the same, eventually leading to an Internet wide bit of sleuthery headed by the folks at StarWars.com. It was like Searching for Bobby Fischer all over again. But, unlike the search for Bobby Fischer, the search did not culminate in the discovery of an insane, anti-semitic and misogynist conspiracy theorist in Finland, but with a regular dude, tickled pink that people remembered the book he'd written 25 years ago. Awesome.
In Search of Rusty Miller [Aka-Payton]
