Wow, Leonard Maltin wrote a letter to you. That is awesome! I should really try writting to famous people more often and seeing if they reply to me, I could leave a printed copy of the letter on my desk, and when friends come over they see it and be like, "Dude! You know Chuck Palaniuk?" And I'll be all like, "Pfft, yeah dawg, he and I were pretty tight back in college, don't really keep in touch all that much anymore though."
That be pretty sweet...
It would especially be cool to have direct replies from guy like Richard Matheson, and Alan Dean Foster, Ray Bradbury or up until just a few years ago Kurt Vonnegut.
Okay, but don't think Leonard Maltin doesn't already know the whole deal with the SW trilogy. Everybody knows it, they act like they don't but they do. The fact of the matter is, Lucas owns those movies to a far greater degree than most film makers own their own films. He worked hard to find a way out of the creative control of the studios, and he managed to do so. Impressive stuff, rogue film maker on the loose, watch out world, this guy is independently wealthy and has broken free of the control of the studios, every film maker's dream, this guy is going to be able to make some seriously amazing stuff! No, no, maybe not, maybe he'll just remake Star Wars over and over and over and over and over, with a little Radio Land Murders, Howard the Duck and some Willow for added color. What a waste... In the end the guy became worse than what he was fighting against. That is the true tradgedy. I wish young George could meet old George, I am pretty sure he'd slap him. Man, young George was awesome, that guy is still a hero of mine. Too bad he turned into a Jabba impersonator that makes crappy films and ruins good ones.
They all know this, the preservation organization know this, Jon Mulvaney knows this, Leonard Maltin knows this, they all know what has happened.
As Leonard Maltin said, "I know you are just one of many fans who've been upset over this, so surely his staff is aware of the outcry."
Indeed they are aware of the outcry, and while they may actually care, George doesn't. With George is where the problem begins and ends. AFI, Jon Mulvaney, Leonard Maltin, and nor anyone else is going to be able to help you, because they can't. And now that the discs do in fact have an offical release, crappy as it may be, there is not a whole lot of room left for saying George destroyed them, because there they are.