Wonder Woman: Bonnie Burton

If any of you geeks out there are at all involved in the deeper levels of Star Wars fandom, then you may know that Bonnie Burton was one of its key components as she was their social media coordinator and blogger for the Official Star Wars blog.  I'm sure many of you shared in my disappointment when you saw Bonnie announce on May 7 on her Twitter account that she was laid off by Lucasfilm after 9 years of employment there.

Seriously, were the Lucasfilm execs under a Sith mind trick while making that decision?

Love the hair.  

Bonnie Burton was one of my role models.  When I first started digging into the Star Wars franchise, I discovered that Miss Burton played a central role, and I immediately tagged her as a role model.  There was a woman holding a real job in the Star Wars company?  What more could an aspiring, geeky female writer want?  (Yes, I realize there are other women involved in the Star Wars franchise, but in case you forgot who I'm writing about in this post, please reference the post title.)

I should clarify.  Just because she no longer works at Lucasfilm does not mean she's not one of my role models anymore: Bonnie Burton is one of my role models.  I can't see that position of hers ever being lost in my book of Wonder Women, no matter what the circumstance.  Therefore, to celebrate her positive influence on the world of geekdom and in my life, I've assigned characteristics to every letter of her first name to explain what I think about Bonnie.  Call it junior high-ish; I can take it.

B - beautiful.  Bonnie wrote about the influence that Betty Page had on her life on her website, and this "inspired [her] to do [her] own thing and not care what others thought."  To me, Bonnie has a firm grasp on what it means to be a beautiful woman.
O - original.  Bonnie always comes up with unique content that I can't help adore, like her new co-authored book Weight Hacking: A How-To Guide for Geeks Who Want to Lose Weight and Get Fit.  And she was the first person to marry R2-D2 (no joke).  Beat that.
N - nice.  My co-worker and I always argue that the word nice is an empty word, something that people throw around carelessly when they don't really know what to say.  I beg to differ here.  Every time I interact with Bonnie on Twitter, she is polite, respectful, and flat-out a nice lady.

Caution: herbs on board.

N - nifty.  Bonnie is notorious (hey, look, another n-word!) for her Star Wars crafts; she can make pretty much anything around the house into something related to that beloved film series.  I mean, who doesn't want their herbs planted in an AT-AT?
I - inspirational.  Self-explanatory.
E - encouraging.  Many times I notice that Bonnie's tweets are complimentary, supportive, and benign towards those she interacts with; I'm not sure I've once noticed her purposefully say anything rude or hateful, and that's a rare gem in the wide, untamed wilderness that is known as the Internet.

I know I'm just another fan and another geek among millions, especially since the dawning of this recent online nerd revolution.  However, I hope that this little tribute has not fallen on deaf ears.  To those of you who feel the same way about Bonnie's inspiration, please, learn something from her example and make the geek world a better place for all of us.