Star Wars: Tom Veitch, Expanded Universe Author, Dies at 80

Tom Veitch, the writer who was instrumental in launching the Star Wars Expanded Universe, has died at 80 years old. Star Wars all but ended with The Return of the Jedi's release in 1983. While West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game expanded on Star Wars universe lore beginning in 1987, there were no new fully formed official stories in the Star Wars universe until 1991, when Timothy Zahn's Heir to Empire novel and Veitch and Cam Kennedy's Dark Empire both continued Star Wars saga's story after the events of Return of the Jedi for the first time. 

The expanded universe saga continued until Disney decided to reboot Star Wars' ancillary after purchasing Lucasfilm in 2012. Yet, the continuity Veitch helped found remains influential in the current Star Wars canon, with some specific characters making the jump from one version of the Star Wars universe to the next. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker even mirrored specific story beats from Veitch and Kennedy's Dark Empire trilogy.

Star Wars: Dark Empire and its two sequels, Star Wars: Dark Empire II and Star Wars: Empire's End, will likely remain Veitch's best-known work in the Star Wars universe. Though initially published by Dark Horse Comics, Marvel Comics has since reprinted the entire trilogy in a single volume of its Star Wars: Legends: The Epic Collection series. In an interview with StarWars.com from 2018, Veitch recalled the low expectations for a comic based on the franchise at the time. "I remember a comics pro saying to me at the time, 'What do you want to do Star Wars for? Star Wars is dead!'"

Besides continuing Luke Skywalker's story after the Return of the Jedi's events, Veitch helped lay the groundwork for the Old Republic era, diving deep into Jedi and Sith mythology in his Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi series. In this series, Veitch and his collaborators would establish the mythology later used in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and even influence George Lucas' Star Wars prequel trilogy. Today, Disney revisits Veitch's idea in the Star Wars: The High Republic publishing initiative.

Before his contributions to the Star Wars universe, Veitch was a monk at the  Benedictine in Weston, Vermont, for several years. He began writing comics in the 1970s. IN 1988, he and future Dark Empire collaborator Cam Kennedy published the fantasy/war comic The Light and Darkness War via Marvel Comics' creator-owned imprint Epic Comics. 

Veitch's death comes as the result of contracting COVID-19. He is survived by his wife and his daughter.