Via Starwars.com:

The Star Wars phenomenon had only been underway a few months when my dad received a postcard from Larry Cuba, creator of the animated Death Star plans as seen at the Rebel base on Yavin 4. It thanked people who helped him, both directly and along the way.

My father worked at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), in capacities including manager of the Space Flight Operations Facility, and as I learned, met Cuba sometime in the early ’70s. The ensuing story has been told to me many times over the years (and hasn’t changed), but here it is in my dad’s own words.

“Larry Cuba and another CalArts student, Gary Imhoff, made an early computer graphics film for a project for school. I had slipped them in many times to use the JPL computer without any official permission, so when the film was done they showed it to me and the programmers that had helped them. At the end it acknowledged the generous assistance of the Jet Propulsion Lab, and I said, ‘TAKE THAT OUT, JPL doesn’t know they allowed government-owned computers to be used.’

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