Memories of STAG and Star Trek Fandom by Sylvia Billings

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Interviews by Fans
Title: Memories of STAG and Star Trek Fandom by Sylvia Billings
Interviewer:
Interviewee: Sylvia Billings
Date(s): 1991
Medium: print
Fandom(s): Star Trek
External Links:
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In 1991, Sylvia Billings wrote about her memories of the the fan club and newsletter, STAG.

It was printed in Star Trek Action Group #100.

Series

Contents

I liked Star Trek from the very first episode I ever saw; so much so that I drove them mad at work talking about the show. One day there was an article in one of the national papers about Star Trek and the clubs being run at that time; my colleagues said, if only for their peace of mind, I had to join at least one of them. So I wrote to the paper and they gave me the address of Beyond Antares which I joined and they in turn put me in touch with Jenny & Terry Elson, so I joined STAG as well.

Eventually I became a member of Janet's committee and after several years, I took over.

It was hard work getting around 900 newsletters out every two months, especially as towards the end of my time running the club I was doing all the work aided by my husband and son.

One of the highlights of my interest in Star Trek was being on the committee of AUCON '81, which at the time was the largest Convention to be held in this country. I went to Heathrow to meet a friend who was coming over for the Convention and, as it was also the same day Nichelle Nicholls and George Takei were arriving, I was asked to tell them which trains to catch to get to Coventry, where the Con was being held. Nichelle had been met by a friend and they went off to London leaving her cases with me. George, who I had met several times before, said he wanted to go straight to Coventry.... in my car! I had brought a couple of friends down to London with me so with them, the friend I had gone to the airport to meet, George and all the luggage we squeezed into the car for the drive to Coventry.

We stopped off in Northampton (where I lived) to explain to my husband where we were going. George said he would like something to drink so we made tea and coffee, got some cakes and had a quick snack. Then he decided he wanted to have a look around the neighbourhood. So off he went with my son and I was left to answer the door to the local children who wanted to know if Mr. Sulu had just come out of my house!

I was, by now, getting desperate as I had visions of Nichelle arriving in Coventry to find all her cases missing. Luckily, we finally arrived about five minutes before Nichelle.

It was only after I got back home that I realised we had fed George in the middle of a room which was in the process of being decorated, so he'd had tea amongst tins of paint and rolls of wallpaper!

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