Version 1.0
This was my first attempt to put what I then called The Star Wars Literature Timeline into America Online's Star Wars Software Library.  Unfortunately, I didn't format it in a medium that would work very well and many people had trouble reading it.

Version 1.1
Same as Version 1.0, but reformatted using Microsoft's Windows Write.

Version 2.0
Completely revamped the STAR WARS logo, corrected a few errors that crept in, and reformatted the spacing using prepared indents rather than tabs.

Sneak Preview Version
Exclusive sneak preview for AOL's HoloCroN readers in Volume 2, Issue 4.

Version 2.5
New and improved logo.  Reproduction rights added.  Bigger and better.  This version's format was highly modified by George "Jake" Tringali ([email protected]) for inclusion in various Star Wars FAQ sites.  NOTE:  If any websites host the various FAQ manifestations of my Star Wars Literature Timeline please replace these with hyperlinks to the site you are now viewing.

Version 2.6
Thanks to Evan Reynolds, The Star Wars Literature Timeline first became available on the World Wide Web at the following website: http://www.evan.org/timeline.html.  This site, however, has now been hyperlinked with the site you are now viewing.

Version 3.0
Added new "chapter" logos, authors/illustrators & publishers/publishing dates, and a ton of new information I received after raiding Star Force Collectibles store in El Cajon, CA (just outside of San Diego).  In addition, I packaged the West End Games RPG Timeline into this document as well as Skip Shayotovich's formerly-titled Info Docs on books & comics, which became titled The Star Wars Literature Insider Update.  To view these documents, you had to double click on the appropriate icons.  Gee, double clicking on embedded files is quickly became an ancient practice, didn'tt it?  By the way, Star Force Collectibles has closed shop indefinitely ... may the Force be with you Lance.

Version 3.0 Supplemental
The first Star Wars Literature Timeline supplemental.  Contained information updates and the entry for the novel Classic Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind's Eye, which was mysteriously missing from Version 3.0.  Unfortunately, for most of you, I never uploaded this supplemental to AOL, so you might as well ignore this entry.  However, if you're one of the few to have received it, consider yourself lucky.  It could be worth a lot of money in a hundred years or so.

Version 3.1
Solicited by West End Games for submission to Lucasfilm Ltd.  Incorporated the Version 3.0 Supplemental and contains many aesthetic changes.  Packaged with the West End Games RPG Timeline (Version 1.1) and excludes Skip Shayotovich's Star Wars Literature Insider Update.  At this stage, talks with the now-bankrupt West End Games (WEG) were under way regarding the Timeline's possible inclusion as an appendix to a Star Wars writers' guide, and their was the possibility of forwarding it to Del Rey in an attempt to create a marketable version for collectors and fans alike.  But after discussing The Star Wars Literature Compendium (SWLC) a year later with former WEG editor Bill Smith, we agreed to formally pull the SWLC from consideration as a possible WEG product in order to keep the document's integrity and fanbase intact.  Smith felt that, because the SWLC was so exhaustively researched, it would be a shame to reduce it to an appendix.  In addition, any possibility of fowarding it to Del Rey by this route was also abandoned.

Version 3.5
Getting bigger and better all the time!!!  Plot summaries direct from the dustjackets/back covers/intro texts were included, and more detailed publishing information was provided.  Detailed plot summaries for the West End Games RPG Timeline was also included.

Version 4.0
Update, update, update!!!  "It's my lot in life ..."  Renamed The Star Wars Literature Compendium and reformatted for easier reading.  Of special note is a revised introduction written with the help of Rich Handley and Jason Fry (aka Jack Camden), two of the nation's top Star Wars archivists, and the inclusion of Jason's The Star Wars Timeline: A New Hope — The Empire Strikes Back.  Ron Jones of Paradigm Interactive also took the Windows Version 4.0 and made a Macintosh version, probably still available  in AOL's Star Wars Software Library!  Paradigm Interactive also began looking at the possibility of creating an interactive, multi-media version of the Star Wars Literature Compendium, but with the rise of more sophisticated internet technology, this plan was soon abandoned.

Version 4.5
After a 6-month hiatus while deployed overseas with the United States Navy from July through December 1996, I was shocked at the rate the Star Wars universe had grown while I was absent from "civilization."  I quickly got in touch with all of my special contacts and took special care to give the Compendium a thorough update.  Additionly, Rich Handley and I began working together to produce an "official" webpage for the Compendium, co-located with Rich's own Exhaustive Guide to Star Wars Comics.  My intent was to constantly update this version as information about the ever-expanding Star Wars universe came to me through the Force.

Version 5.0
Finally!  Converted into a vast webpage for the Internet by Rich Handley, author of the recently retired Exhaustive Guide to Star Wars Comics and writer for West End Games' Official Star Wars Adventure Journal, Topps' Star Wars Galaxy Collector, and the Star Wars Insider.

Version 5.1
Switched all fonts to Arial for easier reading.  The RPG Compendium was put on an indefinite hold until time became a luxury.  As for Jason Fry's Timeline, there was so much new literature flooding the two-year period after A New Hope that it quickly became obsolete.  Hope you enjoyed your 15 minutes, Jason!  Great job!

Version 5.2
One last update and (not-quite-complete) makeover before I deployed to Europe and the Persian Gulf for six months.

Version 6.0
Returning to the United States, I was completely overwhelmed by developments in the world of Star Wars literature.  I  desperately attempted to "catch up" on my purchasing, reading, and updating.  The purchase of a new Gateway G6-450 Pentium II/450 MHz computer (complete with scanner), to replace my aging 486DX2/66MHz Compaq Presario, promised new things for the SWLC!  The site also moved to Star Wars University at www.lightgate.net!!!

The Web Version
Suffice to say, The Phantom Menace burned me out for a while.  Star Wars overload.  I constantly hope to find the time to update this page periodically throughout the year—most likely once every six months or so.  My apologies to the fans, but this is becoming more than one man can handle, especially with my new job as flight instructor and a new baby who can't stop crawling and getting into things.  If anyone wishes to be passed the mantle under my supervision, they are welcome to e-mail me with their credentials and ideas.
 
 

Lieutenant Mike Beidler is a TH-57B/C Bell Jet Ranger helicopter flight instructor at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Milton, Florida.  Mike  attained over 1000 hours in Boeing's H-46D Sea Knight tandem-rotor helicopter while stationed at Naval Air Station Norfolk, Virginia, where he served as Detachment Liaison Officer and Physical Security Officer for Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Eight (HC-8).  Mike was most recently deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf where he served as Operations Officer for Detachment Three and one of four Helicopter Aircraft Commanders (HACs) on board the ammunition/oiler/supply ship USS Supply (AOE-6) between June and December 1998.  Overseas, Mike engaged in vertical replenishment, search-and-rescue, and special forces operations.

Mike lives in Milton, Florida, with his wife Christal, daughter Mikaela, & Cocker Spaniel Madeline.