I had been corresponding with a girl I had met on a trip to Boston a few months earlier, and although I liked her, I felt 200 miles was just too far a distance to pursue a relationship. Just to put these events in perspective as to where I was in my life, I was single, lonely and depressed, having been broken up with my girlfriend over a year previous. The location was chosen because Hamill had just directed a fun but forgettable direct-to-DVD mockumentary titled, Comic Book: The Movie. I was assigned by a now defunct magazine to shoot actor Mark Hamill at Midtown Comics. One chilly November day back in 2004, I found myself with a dream job. Over 20 years had passed since he last portrayed Luke Skywalker, but he still resembled the young Jedi, and that fact alone made the situation nearly as exciting as my initial fictional description. In actuality, it was a middle-aged guy in a leather jacket and scarf who entered the store that day. That’s how I like to remember Mark Hamill’s entrance. “You will take me to the photographer now.” In my imagination, a cloaked figure entered the second floor Times Square location of Midtown Comics, gliding over to the front counter and waving his finger at the clerk. With Terra’s blessing, we re-present Seth’s lovely recollection of his very meaningful encounter with the one-and-only Luke Skywalker…) With Star Wars: The Force Awakens out this week, I wanted to make sure as many people as possible got a chance to read this. Seth was beloved by his friends and colleagues and I’ll always be indebted to him for his early support of 13 th Dimension. He died just 4 months later of leukemia at the age of 41, leaving behind his wife, Terra, and young son, Jackson. (NOTE: Writer and photographer Seth Kushner wrote this piece for us in January 2015 when Marvel launched its new Star Wars comics series. A 13th Dimension STAR WARS WEEK Special: Writer/photographer Seth Kushner’s terrific tale of meeting his idol … and the profound change it had on his life!

Luke skywalker actor face change