The Fire Bringer
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Fire Bringer |
| Publisher: | |
| Editor(s): | Myrna Culbreath |
| Type: | |
| Date(s): | 1970s (see notes below) |
| Frequency: | |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | "a Libertarian and objectivist publication" (with some Star Trek content) |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Fire Bringer is a Libertarian newsletter published in the 1970s by Myrna Culbreath.
Culbreath would go on to later professionally publish four Star Trek novels with her co-author Sondra Marshak along with the two editions of Star Trek: The New Voyages, a collection of professionally published fan fiction. She was also involved in co-writing Star Trek Lives!, an early analysis of the Star Trek fan phenomenon, published in 1975, two years after David Gerrold's The World of Star Trek.
The Fire Bringer had essays, ads, updates on other subscribers, and articles about taxation.
Issue n.1 v.5 (also called the "Special Spock Reprint Edition) (January 1974) contains a famous article called "The Spock Premise," that tries to explain Spock's appeal to female viewers. A version of this article was included in Star Trek Lives!. This issue also includes several letters from Gene Roddenberry.
Some Descriptions
From Star Trek Lives!:
At Vul-Con I, we heard Gene Roddenberry introduce Myrna Culbreath to the convention and speak of her Spock Premise article as 'brilliant... the best analysis of Spock ever done... required reading for all Star Trek fans'.
Boldly Writing offers the following description:
This publication was 'copyright 1971 by Myrna Culbreath...quotation permitted if copyright notice, author, and address given.' However, I suspect this issue actually came out much later than 1971, since it includes a letter from Gene Roddenberry dated March 26, 1973, and discusses the animated Star Trek (something not even dreamed of in 1971)...The editor labeled The Fire Bringer as a libertarian publication, and there is some political material in it (one article proclaimed that Star Trek fans are naturally inclined to follow libertarian principles). I bought the issue in 1977 to add to my collection because I had read in Star Trek Lives! that the fanzine contained a unique character analysis of Spock.
The Special Star Trek Reprint Edition
Culbreath reprinted the Star Trek portions of the issue in January 1974 in order to include letters from Gene Roddenberry praising her newsletter along with a lengthy - and somewhat rambling - editorial about her awestruck experience of the newsletter being recommended by Gene Roddenberry at Vul-Con 1.
The issue reprints 4 letters from Gene Roddenberry (some undated, some dating to 1973) along with Culbreath's replies.
It also reprinted the "Spock Premise" article (although the article was actually titled: "Reviews of Art and Achievement: Star Trek: The Man Who Invented a Universe: The Universe He Invented: Star Trek and the Spock Premise.")
A second article, also written by Culbreath, reviewed the commercial book The Making of Star Trek by Stephen Whitfield.
Excerpts from the "Spock Premise"
- "He is Spock.
- He is the essence of Star Trek.
- He is the alien we love, the man more unknown than any foreigner, more remote than any race-and yet more admirable than any man.
- If we can love Spock, there may be hope for us yet.
- And we do love him."
Gallery
front cover of the original printing of v.1 n.5
first page of the 'Spock Premise' article from v.1 n.5
front page of the 1974 reprint of v.1 n.5 with the now shorter article title 'The Spock Premise'
