Richard LeParmentier has died

Last updated on: April 17, 2013 at 8:55 pm by Dave Griffey

Richard LeParmentier has died 2013-04-17T20:55:00-04:00 Dave Griffey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Who you ask? Richard LeParmentier. For folks of my age, his name may not be household level, but there’s not a guy who was aware in 1977 who doesn’t remember him:

Don’t try to frighten us with your sorcerer’s ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you clairvoyance enough to find the rebel’s hidden fortress…

And of course, his little rant was cut short. Back in those magical days from 1977-1978, when our little Midwestern town waited an entire year for the movie to make it to our small screen, Star Wars was about as all consuming as the Beatles must have been in 1964. It was all I, or just about any other boy my age, was thinking about.

Every scene was gold. Remember, no DVDs, streaming videos, Youtube knock-offs, or even VCRs. Once it was gone, it was gone as far as we knew. I worked an entire year doing chores, gathering newspapers for recycling, anything I could to raise enough money for the dollar per showing it would cost me to see Star Wars every day it was in our theater. And against usual practice, our theater held Star Wars for an extra week! I only missed a couple of showings. Even when they played it back to back I stayed, at one point sitting in the aisles because the seating was taken (a year later!). Yeah, pretty lenient back then with fire codes.

Ah, but what a moment in my life. Every character, every ship, every bit of the movie was etched into my mind for all time. And few standouts leaped out at us like the haplessly swaggering Admiral Mott, one of the few who, at least for the moment, didn’t appear overly frightened of the menace in black. What a scene. It perfectly displayed, in a subtlety that Lucas would eventually lose, that tension between technology and industry, and good old supernatural, dare I say, religious devotion.

Thanks for the memories Mr. LeParmentier. I know you did other things, and no doubt had all the moments that make a person’s life what it is. But for this young fellow, way back in the hazy, crazy 70s, you stood out in a film of gigantic proportions, and left a little bit of yourself for me to remember the rest of my days. God be with you, and rest in peace.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

April 17, 2013

Death Penalty Opponents

Next Post

April 17, 2013 And for a look into the bleak future

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Atheism Awesome things Bigotry for the hip American Blogging Books Catholic Catholic Teaching Catholics on the Internet Christian Persecution Christian Unity Christianity and America Christianity in the Post-Modern World Christianity in the world Culture of Death Culture of Life Current Events Decline and Fall of the Christian West Defending Liberty Fun Stuff Global Warming Good Causes Good News Gun Control Health Care History Holidays Homeschool Humor Important things Inspiring Stories Interesting Insights Interesting Stories Islam and the West Liberal "Tolerance" Liberal observations Life in a post-Christian world Memorial Movies Musings News Other Blogs Our Big Politically Correct Bother Politics Popular Culture Post Modern Values Prayers Pro Life Promoting LGBT Protecting Liberty Racism in the world today Scientism Social Observations Sports Strange Stories The Boys The Catholic Church and the Left The Decline and Fall of the American Dream The end of liberty The Faith and the Left The Faith and the Right The Family The Greatness of God The Internet The Leftist Juggernaut The LGBT Question The Media The Pope The post-liberal Left The Power of Propaganda Tributes Twilight of the American Experiment Uncategorized Uneducating Postmoderns When the Church is wrong Why learn from history when we can repeat it instead Wisdom in the Post Modern Age World Events

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

A woman who had suffered bleeding for twelve years was healed by touching Jesus' what?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The hairs of his head His feet His hand His cloak