THE JOURNEY

When it comes to Star Wars, there are some interesting anecdotes about where George Lucas came up with those wacky alien names.

One story has it that he and a pal were driving out in the middle of nowhere one night when the driver bumped over something in the road.  The driver turns to George and says, "Hah, think I just hit a wookiee back there" and that's where Chewbacca the wookiee came from.

That's a great story.  Not, perhaps the greatest, but still great.  It's a little funny, a little quirky.  I mean, what's going through your mind to (a) randomly make up a word when you hit something in the road and (b) just keep on driving? There's this lingering doubt in my mind that some poor hiker is waking up from a coma, 35 years later, saying, "Well, I was out in the middle of nowhere when this car just runs into me and drives off.  And the last thing I remember is some guy laughing about - what did he call me? - a wookiee...?"  Can't wait for that guy to see Star Wars.

But I'm sure it was an innocent bump, they probably knocked into a fallen branch or something.

The lesser known part of that anecdote is how George Lucas and his pal were making the exact same journey 20 years later and the very same thing happened.  This time, older, wiser and with an eye on the insurance, George's pal says, "Hah, think I just hit a wookiee back there.  But he hit me first."

"Hmmm," thinks Lucas, "maybe the wookiee should hit first..."