Robert Cartagena
Posted by Suzanne on
Number of people currently in line: 45
It's only fair that Robert Cartagena be the first of our portrait series! As you all know, Robert is the New York Line coordinator.
Beloved Red Leader, Robert Cartagena hails from the Bronx and is captain of the BIG SHIP - NYLine Countdown!!
Robert jumped on board (or was he kidnapped?) the Countdown Ship after e-mailing Supreme Commander, Lincoln in Australia. Lincoln Gasking is one of the three co-founders of the Countdown to StarWars site to whom Robert volunteered his services to organize a line-up in NYC.
Why you ask would a father of four, a full-time telecommunications consultant, and a "moonlighting" subway singer ger involved in such an undertaking? Because he thinks that lightsaber duels were not enough of a challenge for him or for that matter, he could easily have beaten Boba Fett in an arm wrestling match! But seriously though, as Robert said so eloquently in an interview in The Daily News, "Star Wars fans will do anything to be part of the celebration."
Robert saw the original Star Wars at a drive-in theater in the wonderful state of NJ where he was completely blown away from the opening scroll to the award ceremony at the end of the film. For him, it had everything- drama, romance, adventure and the MUSSSIICCC!!
Since mid-January, 1999, Robert has guided and coaxed the BIG SHIP NYLine Countdown from an idea into a reality. With the swagger of Han Solo, the impatience of Luke Skywalker, the nerve of Princess Leia, the girth of Darth Vader (!) and heart of Yoda, Robert has made the NYLine team proud, and when this event is in the record books, I, for one will miss the constant phone calls to my work, home and cell phone!!!
Humbly submitted in honor of Red Leader by Obi-Wan Sousa.