Jonathan W. Rinzler was born on August 17, 1962, in Lakewood, New Jersey. He was raised in Manhattan and Berkeley. He studied at Parsons School of Design and graduated from New York University. From 2001-2016, he worked for Lucasfilm in the Lucasbooks division as executive editor. Rinzler was the author of more than 20 books. His work included, The Making of Star Wars (2007), The Complete Making of Indiana Jones (2008), and similar books about the other films, Alien, The Shining, and Planet of the Apes. He also wrote a novel, All Up (2020), about the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. J. W. Rinzler died at his home in Albion, California on July 28, 2021. He was 58.