An Open Letter To Peter Mayhew
Although our trip to the Chicago Comic Con was not terribly great, there was one really neat thing that happened to us. We got to meet Peter Mayhew, the 7’3″ actor who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies, while he was there signing autographs. I know that he does the convention circuit now, selling his books and talking to people, but Aiden and I had never seen him before. So, it was pretty exciting to actually meet this guy in person.
Aiden I waited a few minutes to talk to him, and I just told him that it was really an honor just to meet him and I wanted my boy to meet him too. Peter had Aiden come behind the table and shook his hand. Although there were signs all over the celebrity area that said “No Photos”, Peter’s wife told me take a picture while Aiden was standing next to him. I did, and I am pretty sure that this is something that Aiden will always remember. I thought it was pretty amazing.
I also shook Peter’s hand, which was huge. Like the size of a dinner plate. His hand next to mine was about the same as my hand next to Aiden’s. I actually got all fan boy for a moment and blurted out something like, “Wow, your hands are huge! I bet you get that all the time…” I felt pretty dumb after I recovered, but hey, this is Chewbacca! You just look into his eyes and you can see that this was the guy behind that furry mask.
He’s big for a reason. Peter Mayhew has giantism, the same thing that made Andre the Giant a huge celeb. Andre had a hard life as a wrestler, but he was taken from us far too soon. To be honest, I’m surprised that Peter is still with us. I didn’t want to say that I was worried that he would die soon and that it would be a shame to not meet him before he died, but that is kind of how I feel. Giantism comes with a decreased life expectancy, and he’s already been around for a while.
Anyway, I just wanted to take a moment to say that Peter Mayhew is a stand up guy. I’m sure that he loves his fans, and I’m glad that Aiden and I can be counted among them. I hope that Aiden and I get to see him again some day. With luck, every year at conventions. Like a growth chart: see how much bigger Aiden is each year compared to Peter Mayhew. Here’s wishing that Peter is around for another twenty years so we can watch Aiden grow up next to him.
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Andre had acromegaly, which (AFAIK), Peter Mayhew does not.
The acromegaly is what killed him, he chose not to have it treated, and that eventually caught up with him. His heart just kept enlarging and it finally shut down.
Otherwise, merely being very tall (which I -think- is all that’s the case with Mayhew) is not fatal in and of itself. Plenty of basketball players live into their 60s or 70s w/o much issue. Sure, you tend to have a shorter lifespan than you would otherwise, but it’s not the same as the acromegaly which’ll really fuck you up if left untreated.
Jim T´s last blog: The dessert is alive! by Jim
Acromegaly is a form of giantism. Peter Mayhew was diagnosed with giantism when he was a teenager and was given treatment. He stopped growing at 21, but was already wearing size 16 shoes. His book, “Growing Up Giant”, tells the story of his early life with giantism.