Fanlore:Featured Article Archives/2021: Week 25
A Trekkie's Tale is a short 1973 Star Trek: TOS parody. It is the fanwork that formally introduced the concept of Mary Sue.
"A Trekkie's Tale" was published in the print zine Menagerie #2 and was "How's Treks #5," one of a number of short parodies in that zine series. Though the author is listed as Anonymous in the zine's table of contents, the author is Paula Smith.
Though the fact that "Mary Sue" originated from a short Star Trek parody fic is still far from common knowledge in fandom, "A Trekkie's Tale" has attained a degree of infamy in the decades since its publication with fans delightedly (or sometimes not-so-delightedly) discovering and sharing this piece of trivia. Some essays and analyses have been published that examine the evolution of Mary Sue from her Trek origins. Smith has also spoken about the specific inspiration for the fic (see: The Originator of the Term "Mary Sue"), further situating "A Trekkie's Tale" and Mary Sue within the fandom trends of the time.