Boldly Going... 25 Years On
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|---|---|
| Title: | Boldly Going... 25 Years On |
| Creator: | Diane Marchant |
| Date(s): | 1991 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Boldly Going... 25 Years On is a 1991 essay by Diane Marchant.
It was printed in honor of Star Trek's 25th anniversary, and was printed in The Captain's Log #179.
"Star Trek has survived as a phenomena because of ideas, beliefs and ideals that have touched a chord in all of us who go under the all-embracing title of "trekkers.""
Sections
- Star Trek: In the Beginning
- Star Trek: What It Meant to Me
- Fandom in the Early Years
- The Star Trek Welcomittee
- The Fans, The Cons, and The Cast
Some Topics Discussed
- Gene Roddenberry's vision and optimism and personal attention
- meeting the stars and other showrunners
- fandom as a place of belonging and community
From the Essay
It took one special person who was motivated by needs and a burning desire to more than just succeed....to make his mark in this phase of existence...to have his say and to be spokesperson for, and to 'caring' people. He chose his path quietly, peaceably but with determination. He instinctively knew that success would not be accomplished, let alone sustained in a vacuum, for communication should be a 'two-way street' and that without external receptiveness and feedback, existence stays barren, leaving the individual in a cage of isolation.
Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek. It was an exciting means of communication. Here many of us beheld ourselves, our dreams, our ideals, etc. Tenets we held dear and by which we fashioned our lives, were on the screen. Things, until now, we had not been quite sure that others actually shared. Star Trek was saying "Hey, you're not alone, we're here, we care too. Life is valuable, there's a lot more to everything than just mundaneness, the future is here/there proving humane ideals will win through, mankind will survive and go side-by-side with all existence, ever growing, aver striving for peace, harmony, equality, tolerance and revelation, and that even with success in all those areas, will still go on to greater and more magnificent challenges.
Star Trek came to me when I most needed reaffirmation of the meaning of life. I was walking around with a huge, gaping grey hole in my psyche. My younger sister had died, my mother was ill and in deep mourning. I had to offer an anchor and outwardly I was... but inwardly I was experiencing a kind of suspended animation. I got by, work was routine, home was likewise. I didn't want to feel, in fact I don't think I was capable of feeling at that time.
The radio or television was playing both day and night. It was noise to fill the void. It was into this atmosphere that Star Trek: made its debut into my life.
Somehow, someway, this show pierced the gloom and drew me towards the 'light'. I actually tried to turn from it, but I couldn't...for it was saying things, making me care. I identified with situations, ideals, a characters etc. At first I had a feeling that it was a fluke episode I which struck a chord within my soul but I felt myself being drawn towards the next week and another episode. I was actually beginning to look forward to something once again. Star Trek was to prove not a fluke but a constant.
I had to write to the series creator and thank him, and try to explain what Star Trek had done for, and meant, to me.....and try to find out a if he really felt and meant to present what I had seen in the series. Little did I know I was going to discover, not r only a kindred spirit, but a life long friend.
Gene took to letting me know me when he was contacted by folk in a Australia and Hew Zealand. Sometimes, if his personal touch was not needed, he sent the letters to me to answer on his behalf. It was in this way that I came into contact with many early Aussie trekkers.
In the early days, we had little to sustain us and after Star Trek disappeared from our TV networks, we had to make our own Trek-style entertainment.
Majel helped this along with film clips from the series. I put them into 1/2 frame mounts and tried to follow the episodes as faithfully as possible in their order placement. Trek fans would come over and we'd have Trek nights or weekends.... several times fusing the house lights in the process. [...] Some visited once as they came from interstate but others came almost weekly.
It was wonderful being able to talk with folk who expected nothing of you, but to be yourself. Folk who cared, who were kith and kin of the spirit who enjoyed themselves without phoniness or pretence. It was a new beginning; a beginning of & new "family", one that was to cover the globe.
In the meantime we joined together via the mail. People in many countries knew no geographic barriers. Star Trek had done away with such irrelevancies. Gifted folk started to come out from beneath inhibitions and fan zines were born to pull together the stories, poems, artwork etc. that previously had only done the rounds of our mail boxes. Now they became accessible to Trekdom, which inspired others to dare to enter the field too.
The demands on Star Trek actors and especially Gene Roddenberry himself had long passed the stage of individual attention span only although Gene (bless him) has always remained very receptive and relatively accessible to his public. (This fact alone has a lot to do with the continual long-lasting faithfulness of fans to Star Trek.)
Years rolled by; things developed. 1975 and my long service leave rolled around. I had been urged to visit friends in the , States and attend a Star Trek convention or two. A miracle happened, I did.If you are a Trek fan and you've travelled abroad and visited the Trek folk then I'll not even have to try to explain to you, but for others who have not... The first thing you find is that you truly are one of the family; you are no stranger, there is no awkwardness. You've know these folk forever and you are instantly at home. It's so unique, so wonderful, so TREK!
Life long friendships are forged, acquaintances are developed. Recognition remains even in the most casual of encounters. Bless them all - those I've met, e.g. Phil & Shirley Maiewski, Bertha Robinson, Kay Houston, Nana Grasmick, Karen Flanery, Rusty Hancock, John and Bjo Trimble, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Joel Davis, Mandy Schultz and their families and friends and other - memory has temporarily deserted me, but their warmth has not.
Needless to say I returned to Australia with the incredulous feeling that it had all been a dream...for those sorts of things only happened to the likes of Cinderella in fairy tales! Yet there were a few snap shots and a small reel of film..... it had happened, and to me!! Halleluya!!