"He’s not really dead...as long as we remember him"
--Leonard McCoy, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
The year 1966 was one of strife worldwide. China was in the throes of its Cultural Revolution, and the United States was embroiled in the Vietnam War. Governments toppled in Africa and Latin America. China and France exploded nuclear devices. Racial conflict spread from Mississippi to Chicago to San Francisco. As I began my senior year in high school, I became increasingly aware of the contrast between my sheltered, small-town existence and the pain and suffering that was broadcast on the evening news each night. Even more dramatic was the contrast between the horror of that news and the idyllic life depicted on most entertainment programming. On September 8, 1966, however, something new arrived on network television: a program willing to tackle the harsh reality of issues like racism, war, and sexism, while offering hope and a vision of a better time to come. That series was, of course, Star Trek.
Star Trek has meant a lot of things to me over the years. Initially, it was a program I enjoyed when I had the chance, but as a student first in high school and then college, I often didn’t have the chance. Classes, boyfriends, band, football, newspaper writing and other extra-curricular activities left little time for television. Still, this series touched me in ways nothing on television had before and little would in the years that followed: the inventiveness of its science fiction format, the romance and heroism and the gallant crew of the Starship Enterprise and the social consciousness and idealism of its themes, including the Vulcan IDIC philosophy.
It would be years before I found organized fandom. The animateds passed me by completely, and I viewed the early syndicated reruns sporadically during those pre-VCR days. Each movie awoke a resurgence of interest and fondness for the Enterprise and her crew which flared then smoldered in the back of my consciousness.
And then came 1986, the twentieth anniversary celebration and the the release of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. I watched the movie several times, enjoying it almost as much as my favorite Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. But it wasn’t the movie itself that captured my imagination. A friend attended the celebration convention, and returned with a stack of publications called fanzines. I read them, and I was hooked. This was Star Trek as I always knew it could be.
From there, I progressed from reading to writing to editing and finally publishing fanzines. It’s a sometimes all-consuming hobby, but it brings me great personal satisfaction, as well as a challenging creative outlet.
And I, along with the rest of us "Trekkers" owe it all, ultimately, to one man, whose vision, and determination created Star Trek and provided the inspiration that made this show an intricate part of modern culture.
Gene Roddenbery conceived the idea that became Star Trek, he brought it to fruition and nurtured it along. Without the "Great Bird of the Galaxy," Star Trek would not exist. It is ironic that in this year of the twenty-fifth anniversary of that first season, during the fifth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation and just weeks before the opening of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Gene Roddenberry should die.
Unlike Spock, Gene Roddenberry will not return to life. But, as Leonard McCoy said in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, "He isn’t really isn’t dead...as long as we remember him."
As long as there’s a Star Trek--on television, in movies and books, at conventions and in the pages of these fanzines--Gene Roddenberry will live on. Star Trek is his legacy, his gift to us. For that, we’ll always remember him with affection and gratitude while striving to keep the vision alive and carry on the legacy to a new generation of fans.
It is with that thought in mind that we dedicate this fanzine to the memory of Gene Roddenberry. Thank you, Gene.
Ann Zewen
TANTALUS 4, April 1992
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