1981 Open Letter Regarding DeForest Kelley and His Movie Role
| Open Letter | |
|---|---|
| Title: | 1981 Open Letter Regarding DeForest Kelley and His Movie Role |
| From: | Ingrid Cross, Tess Thomas, Lorraine Beatty, and Joyce Tullock |
| Addressed To: | Star Trek fans |
| Date(s): | December 1981 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
1981 Open Letter Regarding DeForest Kelley and His Movie Role (titled "An Open Letter") was printed in the sixth issue of Odyssey in December 1981.
The authors were the editors of "Odyssey," and the subject was the More McCoy! fan campaign to include/give more screen time to the character Dr. McCoy in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.
The Letter
As the instigators of the letter campaign to ensure the signing of Mr. Kelley for the new Star Trek movie, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all of you who wrote Paramount in support of Mr. Kelley.
Back in late 1980, when the idea first occurred to us, we were hesitant and, yes, a little afraid. We had only heard rumors and low murmurings of possible doom for the McCoy role. We had never organized such a project before and therefore our first flyer just expressed our personal opinions concerning Mr. Kelley's value to ST. And yet the response was warm and enthusiastic, so we felt all the worry had been worthwhile.
The following months went quickly. Along the way we heard from several people who had written the studio, and we thought everything was going welI. This past summer, we discovered that false information was released: Mr. Kelley had not been signed, as reported in a letterzine. Out of the ensuing panic, we regrouped our efforts and mailed out 1 ,000 flyers.
We still don't have an official estimate of how many people wrote the studio. We do know the impact the campaign had on certain individuals.
Letterzines, fanzines and infozines reprinted the flyer. One person in Florida xeroxed 1 ,000 copies and took them to conventions. Groups we sent flyers to for distribution copied more and sent them along. Several people wrote to tell us they had written to Paramount.. .and some people sent us copies of their well-written, intelligent letters. We've received letters from fans we've never met or written to, giving us their support and feedback.
The Spock contingent came out in support of our campaign and asked for and received our help with their efforts. Harve Bennett's comments at a small convention showed us that the letters had an impact: "And then the Leonard McCoy fanclub got hysterical." (Well, we wouldn't say we were hysterical, exactly.. .and he unwittingly grouped all McCoy fans into a non existent club...but at least we heard something!)
But all of it was worthwhile. Even the less-than-friendly comments in Interstat. And the mysterious phone calls one of us received at the office, apparently trying to start some type of scare campaign to keep us quiet.
See, it was all worthwhile because the fans reacted on their own initiative, told the studio what they wanted in a polite and effective manner. And the reward? It's not just that Mr. Kelley is in the movie - it was also the victory that for a little while yet, we have preserved the authentic Star Trek.. .the dreams and visions of Gene Roddenberry. So again, our thanks to all of you who helped the campaign! And to Mr. Kelley, our best wishes to you in the upcoming movie!
It's coming...HBS!
Fan Comments
This letter was addressed by Susan Stephenson in a letter to Interstat titled So many topics in the past few months require perspective I see lacking.:
Because her own fannish interests haven't received the attention she deems appropriate, Ingrid Cross has chosen to call Harve Bennett a liar. The fact she didn't use that word is immaterial. Such rudeness was as uncalled for as the remark that anyone accepting Harve's word was "a lamb."
Harve Bennett's reputation happens to include honesty and integrity in a business not always noted for those qualities. Why do fans expect him to say any more about the current ST project than Paramount or industry standards allow? This is a new ball game.
McCoy fans are being manipulated only by the paranoia of Ingrid Cross, Joyce Tullock, Lorraine Beatty and Tess Thomas as expressed in their flyers and letters. No matter what anyone says, they cling to their "McCoy has little time left" campaign religiously. Sonni has a script, but they wouldn't take her word that McCoy is not only in it, but vital to the storyline. Now they won't even take the word of Harve Bennett who, after all, only happens to be the guy running the show!
That their carrying on has came to Harve's attention was obvious from his comment at the WS Weekend, "...and then the McCoy fans got hysterical." Both Harve and Bob read INTERSTAT, so Cross and Tullock have once again attracted attention; however, that's not the way to win friends and influence producers, gang! Fortunately for De, who might very well have been hurt by this were ST being produced by someone else, Harve is committed to doing what he feels is best for Trek as a whole by scripting a good story which involves every member of the old cast.
The man Cross "wants to hear things from" is not in the position of giving out information on this project. Sorry, my dear, but only the producer of a project has the right to discuss it. That's a Paramount (and industry) standard GR ought to be well aware of by now as he took exactly the same stand when making ST-TMP. If the word isn't from Paramount or Harve, it isn't official!