Stephen J . Sansweet Stephen J . Sansweet ( born June 14 , 1945 ) is the chairman and president of Rancho Obi - Wan , a nonprofit museum that houses the world ' s largest collection of " Star Wars " memorabilia . Prior to his retirement in April , 2011 , he was Director of Content Management and head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm Ltd . for 15 years , and remains Fan Relations Advisor for the company . He is author or co - author of eighteen books , sixteen of them about " Star Wars " . After Sansweet relocated to Northern California to be closer to his new office at Skywalker Ranch , he bought a former chicken ranch and refurbished its barns to house his collection . The property was renamed Rancho Obi - Wan . Biography . Sansweet was born in 1945 and raised in the Wynnefield section of Philadelphia . He knew he wanted to be a writer from age six , when he hand - printed a newsletter and sold copies to neighbors for three cents . School newspapers , magazines , and yearbooks followed , and he became a journalism major at Temple University . Sansweet has said that he got a lot out of his classes , many taught by working journalists . But he got as much out of a unique community of fellow students who put out the four - times - a - week Temple News . There was no better training , from reporting and writing to photography and editing — and even " paste - up " in the composing room to get the offset daily ready for the printer , he adds . He worked on the special issue reporting the assassination of John F . Kennedy ; as two - term editor - in - chief a few years later , he called in late - night instructions to hand - print a banner headline announcing a next - day visit to campus of President Lyndon Johnson . Between his junior and senior years , Sansweet received a then - rare summer internship at the " Philadelphia Inquirer " , where he worked the night police beat . He graduated magna cum laude and was named an Outstanding Journalism Graduate at Temple . ( In 2009 , he was inducted into Temple ' s Media Hall of Excellence . ) Immediately after graduating , he went to work full time for the " Inquirer " . During this time , Sansweet served a six - year stint in the U . S . Air Force Reserve , transferring to the Air National Guard . In early 1969 , Sansweet became a reporter for the " Wall Street Journal " . After working in the Journal ' s Philadelphia and Montreal bureaus , Sansweet was transferred to Los Angeles , where he covered the gaming industry , aerospace , banking , and Hollywood . He helped break the first stories on massive foreign bribery by U . S . - based multinationals and was part of a " Journal " team that won the 1977 Sigma Delta Chi Public Service Award ; he was a Loeb Award finalist in 1990 . Sansweet was a lecturer in business journalism at the University of Southern California in the mid - 1980s , a course that he created . He became the " Journal " ' s Los Angeles bureau chief in 1987 , a position he kept until 1996 when he made a leap of faith and " followed his bliss " — and passion — to become Director of Specialty Marketing at Lucasfilm Ltd . His title later changed to Director of Content Management and Head of Fan Relations . Sansweet turned his love of the " Star Wars " saga into a second career , acting as Lucasfilm ’ s liaison to fans worldwide , and their liaison to the company . He did presentations at well over 100 conventions in the U . S . and many more internationally from the U . K . , France , Spain , and Germany , to Australia , Japan , Mexico , and Finland . He appeared on more than 50 hours of " Star Wars " collectibles programming on QVC in the last half of the 1990s , and has amassed the world ' s largest private collection of " Star Wars " memorabilia , housed in a 9 , 000 - square - foot ( 840m square ) converted chicken barn in Sonoma County , California . Not abandoning his love of writing , Sansweet has eighteen books to his credit , sixteen of them on " Star Wars " , including the 1 . 2 - million - word " Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " in 2008 and 2012 ’ s " Star Wars : The Ultimate Action Figure Collection " . It was announced on October 20 , 2010 , that Sansweet would be stepping down as Head of Fan Relations effective April 2011 . He stated via press release : " Nearly 15 years ago I left my post as Los Angeles Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal to follow my bliss and take a ' one - year job ' as Lucasfilm ' s Star Wars ambassador . Now it ' s time for another change and new challenges , while still maintaining an active role in the Star Wars fan community . " " Star Wars " bibliography . Magazine work . Sansweet also served as writer and editor for five " Star Wars " trading card sets for Topps , Inc . Television . Sansweet also co - hosted 50 hours of QVC " Star Wars " Collection broadcasts from the middle to late 1990s .