2. E.E. "Doc' Smith (Lensman Novels, skylark of space novels)
3. Edgar Rice Burroughs ( Tarzan, and martian tales)
4. Frank Herbert (dune saga)
5. Isaac Asimov ( foundation trilogy, I robot, empire series )
6. Edmond Hamilton "the husband of leigh brackett"
7. Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon)
8. Joseph Campbell (The Hero with a thousand faces)
9. Hans Christian anderson
10. and the brothers grimm (fairy tales)
11. Gene Roddenberry ( creator of star trek) george lucas was a fan of the original series when at usc, a little known fact to all you star trek haters out there.
all of these writers are the most valuable considering lucas "borrowed" ideas from them, since i don't want to say steal because we would'nt want to be politically incorrect now would we. Without them star wars could not exist.