Bay City Library Interview with Katherine Atkins

Interviews by Fans
Title:	Bay City Library Interview with Katherine Atkins
Interviewer:	Wolfpup
Interviewee:	Katherine Atkins
Date(s):	November 2004
Medium:	online
Fandom(s):	Starsky & Hutch
External Links:	full interview is here, Archived version
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In 2004, Katherine Atkins was interviewed for the Bay City Library.

See List of Starsky & Hutch Fan Interviews.

Some Excerpts

I began watching it in 1975, when I saw the pilot on the Movie of the Week. I liked the show, but I had other interests, too, so I wasn't a die hard fan like some people were. I didn't read the fan magazines or keep up with Paul and David's activities like some fans were doing, and I didn't watch the show in syndication. But, I rediscovered the show and found the fandom a few years ago, and that's when the obsession really began... As I said, I liked the show from the first time I saw the pilot, but I wasn't obsessed. It was only when I discovered this fandom that I rekindled my interest in the show. Through the kindness of other fans, I was able to get tapes of episodes, and the rest is history. I love the way theses two guys care about each other and are not afraid to show it.

Yes, John Colby. (Just kidding.) My favorite character is Hutch. I've always been drawn to characters who are outside the "norm". Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum), a Russian working in an American environment during the Cold War in The Man From Uncle; Spock (Leonard Nimoy), a Vulcan-Human hybrid working and living among humans in the original Star Trek and Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine), a Shaolin priest bred to peace, living in the violent American West of the 1870's on Kung Fu are all among my favorite TV characters. Although Hutch isn't as obvious a misfit as the others, I've always felt that he was a little uncomfortable in his environment. He seemed so idealistic and was in some ways very naive about police work. I like Starsky, too, but he always seemed to me to be much more comfortable with himself and in most cases more sure of his decisions. Hutch always seemed to me to be the more vulnerable of the two, and I find that appealing.

My first S&H story was "Mother's Day". I had written stories in another fandom, Kung Fu the Legend Continues, and when I found the S&H fandom and read the great stories that were being written, I was inspired. I wrote "Mother's Day" because that holiday was coming up and I had just seen Starsky's phone call to his mother in "Running."

Paula Wilshe will always be a favorite, for her talent and for the kind of person she was. There are so many others, I don't want to start naming names for fear of missing someone. So, I'll just say that I think S&H has some of the best writers in any fandom.

It always helps to have someone else's point of view. I don't use beta readers for the stories I post on-line, as you can probably tell when you read them. I have been blessed with excellent beta-readers for the stories I have published in fanzines. I'm very grateful to these folks, authors who are busy writing their own stories, who are willing to take the time to help me with mine. That's one of the best things about being in a good fandom like this. There are always people who will take the time to help others.

One story I got quite a bit of feedback on was my missing scene for "The Game". Several people took time to let me know they liked it. I did more research than normal on that one, since it involved treatment of botulism and I was able to use that research in the story. That was kind of neat. One of my favorites is Being Thankful, which is an extended tag for "The Plague". I also like Going to the Chapel, which is a missing scene from "Sweet Revenge". I think I like them so much because they're some of my later stories, and I like to think I've improved. In Going to the Chapel I was able to show a little of how Dobey and Huggy feel about the guys, and what I consider their unspoken pact to take care of them when they need it. In the show, Dobey and Huggy are a little adversarial in my opinion, but I've always felt that they were united in their caring for Starsky and Hutch, and I think I was able to show that in this story. Being Thankful is set around Thanksgiving, and is an expression of gratitude for Hutch's surviving the plague. I like it because I think it really shows how the guys care for each other, and because of the scene between Starsky and Callendar.... [Regarding my story "Invictus"]: Some readers have told me that they find this story realistic. They had been through a situation where a loved one was terminally ill, and my story brought back memories. I think most people these days have someone who is ill or dying, unfortunately. So there are many people who would identify with the circumstances in the story. Of course, it is a hurt/comfort story in the extreme, which is attractive to many fans like me.