Today’s guest is not a filmmaker – but his best-known work is closely connected to one of the most popular movie series of all time. It is novelist Rob MacGregor, who wrote the novelization of Steven Spielberg’s third Indiana Jones movie, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE – and then went on to write six more original Indy adventures shortly afterwards, starting with INDIANA JONES AND THE PERIL AT DELPHI in 1991 and then continuing with DANCE OF THE GIANTS, THE SEVEN VEILS, THE GENESIS DELUGE, THE UNICORN’S LEGACY and INDIANA JONES AND THE INTERIOR WORLD throughout 1991 and 1992.
Rob also wrote many other novels, including the Will Lansa Young Adult series which started with PROPHECY ROCK in 1995 and the Nicholas Pierce series which started with CRYSTAL SKULL in 1991. He also published many other mysteries, adventure stories and sci-fi & fantasy stories, including SEVENTH BORN and TULPAS; he wrote books together with Peter Benchley and with Billy Dee Williams and he wrote novelizations for movies like THE PHANTOM and SPAWN. He also wrote numerous non-fiction books, many of them with his wife Trish MacGregor – including books on synchronicity, psychic powers and paranormal mysteries.
In our conversation, Rob recalls his early days as a writer and his journey into the world of Indiana Jones. He talks about working on the six Indy novels and the connections between the stories, the input of George Lucas and Lucasfilm, the popularity of the Indy books and some of his influences in terms of mythology and writing.
The interview was conducted in connection with our German-language podcast Lichtspielplatz, so if you speak German, please check out episode #64, which features an in-depth discussion of the Indiana Jones novels by Rob MacGregor, Max McCoy and Wolfgang Hohlbein. Also, make sure to listen to my interview with Max McCoy here on Talking Pictures – the novelist who continued the Indiana Jones novel series with four more books in the late 90’s.
So without any further ado, here’s Rob MacGregor – who is unsure whether he should re-read his Indy books after all those years …
The mp3 file can be downloaded HERE.
Portrait photo courtesy of Rob MacGregor
Editing: Christoph Schwarz
Music: Clark Kent
