#classic trek
Some of you know that my mother died on Monday. Those of you who are Star Trek fans or who enjoy conventions would probably be interested to know that my mom was a first generation Geek, a classic Star Trek fan who was there from the beginning. She went to Star Trek conventions when they were fan run before the corporations took over, she met most of the actors (she said DeForrest Kelley was one of the sweetest people ever), and she was friends with writer David Gerrold (The Trouble with Tribbles). One of the great untold stories about Star Trek is how women in fandom kept the show alive and going during the decade when it was off the air and kept the love of the show alive long enough for the movies and Next Generation to kick off. They did those through fan magazines and writing fanfics which were copied on mimeograph machines and passed around among friends and through organizing conventions. My mom, a classic slash fanfiction writer (Spock/Kirk), was one of those women.
My Catholic husband is rather amused by how Star Trek is basically the closet thing to organized religion in my family. We watched it together every Wednesday, though it was Next Gen and then DS9 and then Voyager, and at the end we would often have discussions about the moral issues involved. We went to conventions, met Majel Barret Roddenberry and LeVar Burton with some Star Wars actors thrown in. There was one time we tried to join a local Star Trek group and we’d gotten lost on the way there. When we found them my mom walked in and announced, “We’re the Robinsons and we got lost!” Lost in Space fans will understand why the room erupted into laughter.
Over Thanksgiving I started showing the Next Generation movies to my kids and got them hooked. We’ve been watching Next Generation together and for Christmas I’d gotten my parents shirts that said Grandma/pa The Previous Generation (aside, it is so easy to find gifts for Grandpa Geeks but not Grandma Geeks, women in fandom ae still getting the short stick for all their efforts). When I was wrapping them with my daughter she was stunned that her Grammy would like a Star Trek shirt and I turned to her and told her that her Grammy was THE original Star Trek fan and it completely blew her mind.
Before she died I got to tell her that Star Trek is taking root in the third generation and the love for the show is going strong.
“The Trouble With Cyrano Jones” by yours truly.
