Erik Bauersfeld is a respected radio dramatist, who led KPFA's drama and literature department for 31 years. An Academy Award winner considers him a mentor. Lawrence Ferlinghetti is a close friend. The actor-producer has hustled relentlessly to keep his craft alive into the 21st century.

But the fan mail that piles into the 89-year-old's post office box in Berkeley almost never mentions his life work, instead focusing on an odd job he took in the early 1980s.

Bauersfeld provided the voices of "Return of the Jedi" aliens Bib Fortuna and Admiral Ackbar. The latter "Star Wars" good guy, a crustacean-looking military leader, has developed a unique level of fame. University of Mississippi students recently tried to make him their school mascot. Ackbar's signature line - "It's a trap!" - has inspired YouTube parodies. The character makes a much-anticipated return (voiced by someone else) this month on Cartoon Network's animated "Star Wars: The Clone Wars."

Bauersfeld remains flattered but a bit perplexed, even as he returns every request for an autograph with a kind typewritten note.

"The fans who write say they'll never forget 'It's a trap!' I don't even remember how I said it," says Bauersfeld, who hasn't watched "Return of the Jedi" since it came out in 1983, and still hasn't seen the first "Star Wars." "It's not that I don't like it or don't respect it. I just don't have time to be a fan and see it 10 times or 20 times."

Bauersfeld is still a good storyteller. During a 2 1/2-hour interview in a KPFA studio, he covers topics including German radio drama and the history of sound design. When it's time to part ways, Bauersfeld doesn't seem the least bit winded.

Always loved radio

Raised in New York, Bauersfeld was enamored of radio since he was 3, when his father showed him a small crystal radio receiver.

"They turned it on and I heard this sound. And it was explosive," Bauersfeld says. "It was a simple sound, but to me it was something coming from nothing. I sat in amazement at it."

Bauersfeld suffers from stage fright, and never made it to Hollywood. But he found an artistic home in 1961, after stumbling upon vanguard broadcaster KPFA in Berkeley.

Bauersfeld became director of drama and literature in 1963, and shepherded dozens of productions, including "The Black Mass" and "Taos: A Visitable Past." He was friends with famous sound designer Walter Murch, and worked closely with Jim McKee and two-time Oscar winner Randy Thom.

Bauersfeld says he was at Lucasfilm, working on a radio project with Thom, when sound designer Ben Burtt asked him to read for Ackbar, a character with about a dozen lines in the film. The actor says he was offered no direction.

"I went over, he showed me the picture of Admiral Ackbar, and I did it," Bauersfeld says. "I saw the face, and I knew what he must sound like."

He was done in an hour, then spent 30 more minutes reading for Fortuna, who speaks entirely in the fictitious language of Hutt. ("Die wanna wanga!") His parts were added late, and he didn't receive a screen credit for either reading.

The fans figured it out years later, and the mail started arriving.

"I don't remember the first request for an autograph," says Bauersfeld. "But I was quite pleased. I thought, 'My God, somebody is actually writing to me about something that I almost don't remember doing.' Then they began to come in by the dozens and dozens and dozens."

Autograph in demand

Bauersfeld receives several letters a week, from all over the world, and he keeps them in a file. One came from prison. Many are from older "Star Wars" fans, now writing for their children. He has had offers from autograph companies, but refuses to charge for his signature. The actor enjoys the fans, and writes polite notes back, often using "Star Wars" terms.

"May the force be a little more considerate this time," he writes one woman, whose first attempt at an autograph was lost in the mail.

But his lack of "Star Wars" knowledge is almost comical. Bauersfeld has trouble imitating Ackbar because he hasn't heard the voice in so long. He says he enjoyed "Return of the Jedi," but doesn't remember much.

"Tell me what it was about," he says. "Why was Bib Fortuna ... he was the bad guy, wasn't he?"

Bauersfeld is razor-sharp when it comes to his life's work. Bauersfeld and McKee are seeking funding for another trip with Ferlinghetti to Taos, for a project related to D.H. Lawrence and the incredible art community that flourished in the New Mexico town. McKee says the "Star Wars" reading was "a little crack in Erik's existence," calling the actor one of the most well-read, intelligent and well-tempered people he's met.

"He's pretty much the last of the radio drama producers - someone who actually got financing to do the stuff," McKee says.

Bauersfeld and McKee have been working for five years on a Bay Area Radio Drama website ( www.bardradio.com), which will launch in the next month. McKee offers a preview and the site has incredible scope, including links to audio of Bauersfeld's greatest productions with KPFA.

They hope it will find a new generation of fans. But right now, the letter writers are more interested in a galaxy far, far away. More are finding out that Bauersfeld once read for the part of Yoda. The actor says his less-cartoonish delivery was narrowly beat out by Frank Oz.

Like everything else, he takes it in stride. And each letter continues to get a response.

"I have no time for regret," Bauersfeld says. "These things come and go in show business."