RIP Ralph McQuarrie 1929-2012

Another sad loss today as several sites are reporting the passing of artist Ralph McQuarrie at the age of 82. It was McQuarrie's artwork-after previous work for companies like Boeing-that helped convince 20th Century Fox to take a gamble on George Lucas's space epic Star Wars and the rest is history. McQuarrie worked on the two sequels and such films and TV shows like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the original Battlestar Galactica, ET the Extra Terrestrial and more. You can read some thoughts at http://www.aintitcool.com/node/54019 and see some of his work as well. UPDATE: I thought I would add this: the teaser trailer for The Empire Strikes Back showing off several pieces of Mr. McQuarrie's artwork.