User blog:Cavalier One/Celebration Anaheim: Familiar Faces Everywhere



Attending Celebration Anaheim is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and going in, I knew who I wanted to meet. Surrounded by Star Wars actors and content contributors, there were a few that I intended to actively seek out. Who I ended up meeting was a different story, and it was one that was better than envisaged.

On my first day at the Anaheim Conventin Center, I managed to totally walk past Ashley Eckstein, voice actress of Ahsoka Tano, without realising it until someone waiting in line for the J.J. Abrams/Kathleen Kennedy opening panel called out to her.

But the first day went better after that. While at lunch with John Hazlett, he introduced me to Jason Fry, author of many of my favourite reference works including The Essential Guide to Warfare and The Essential Atlas. While talking with Jason, we were joined by Kenobi and A New Dawn author John Jackson Miller, leading to the surreal experience of discussing their work and Wookieepedia while I was enjoying a Bratwurst topped with sauerkraut.

At the end of the day, I met Sterling Hershey, author of many West End Games adventures and current designer of the Fantasy Flight Games role playing game, along with Keith Kappel, who worked on Suns of Fortune.

Day two of the convention started with briefly meeting  The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels producer Dave Filoni, and standing a couple of feet away from C-3PO himself, Anthony Daniels. And again, at lunch, I met SkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Story scribe Abel G. Peña.

For a fan who was drawn into the Star Wars mainly through the Expanded Universe, meeting some of the authors and creators of that material was an amazing experience, and a unique opportunity to engage with them on a personal level. And the one thing I took away from it all? They're fans, just like us.

With a day a bit left at the convention, I hope to meet more of the contributors who helped to craft the universe I love to explore.