Last week, we brought you the sad news that Tony Dyson, the British professor who built R2-D2, had passed away in his home on the Maltese island of Gozo. Dyson had a long career creating props and physical effects for movies like Star Wars, Superman III and Moonraker, but sadly, money management was not one of his strong suits. According to friends, he was essentially broke when he passed. One of those friends, sci-fi author Keith R.A. DeCandido, has been spreading word of a GoFundMe campaign to help cover Dyson’s funeral expenses.
Please help with the funeral arrangements for R2D2 creator, and my good friend, Tony Dyson https://t.co/rE9o3hKhZV via @gofundme
— Keith R.A. DeCandido (@KRADeC) March 8, 2016
Dyson’s wish was to have his brain donated to science, but he died alone in his apartment and wasn’t discovered for several days, making that impossible. Dyson’s friends believe his second choice would have been cremation, but unfortunately, that’s not something you can get done in Malta. Dyson’s body will have to be flown back to his home country of England for cremation, which will cost $8,000. The GoFundMe campaign has been set up solely to raise money for Dyson’s cremation – all other funeral expenses will be paid by Dyson’s friends.
If you’d like to donate to the GoFundMe campaign, you can do so here. As of earlier today, only $80 has been raised. I think we can do better for the guy who created everybody’s favorite droid.
