Toni Cardinal-Price

Fan
Name:	Toni Cardinal-Price
Alias(es):
Type:
Fandoms:	Star Trek, K/S
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URL:	The stories of Toni Cardinal-Price
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Toni Cardinal-Price was a well-loved Star Trek and K/S writer. She was the winner of the 1980 Fan Fund (sponsored by Poison Pen Press in conjunction with Mos'Eastly); she used the money to attend Star Trek America.

Her Tragic Death

Toni was killed by a drunk driver on August 15, 1985, just a few weeks before Mos Eastly Con. After she died, her friends collected all of her stories and poems, from zines such as Nome, As I Do Thee and others, and created a memorial zine of her work.

In Datazine #44 (1986), her friend Barbara Storey announced her plans to auction off Toni's zine and memorabilia collection for charity.

A wake was held for Toni at Mos Eastly Con:

When I arrived, the room was full of women clustered on the beds, on the floor, leaning against the walls. Around the mirror, friends had taped snapshots of Toni Cardinal-Price at home and with her friends, a number of whom were present in the room. Someone had brought in a VCR, and Star Trek songtapes were playing... Throughout the evening, [friends] watched the videos, commented softly on them, and cried... People drifted in and out of the room, some stopping only to pay their respects, others lingering to stare at the videos and share in the warmth of each other's company and the freedom to let down the bright face and mourn.

Remembrances

[Nancy Kippax]
Toni Cardinal-Price: Writer, poet, editor. Her fiction was widely distributed among the stellar zines of her day. Toni's life was cut tragically short in an automobile accident in 1985, a stunning blow to those many fans with whom she was closely aligned. She was survived by her partner, Marty, and her daughter, Casey, whom they were raising. Toni was one of the New York crowd, a native of New Jersey, and an early influential K/S writer and advocate.

[Barbara Storey and Victoria Clark]
Toni introduced me to fandom eight years ago; I met her outside the old Helen Hayes theater in New York on, on Leonard Nimoy's opening night in 'Equis.' and I knew right away that this was a woman after my own heart. We exchanged addresses and phone numbers and went our own separate ways after that night was over; I didn't really think I would hear from her -- after all, she was already a big name in fandom: a writer, an editor, a representative of the Welcommittee. Why would she write to me, a nobody? But two weeks later, I got a letter from her, a wonderfully warm and welcoming letter; I decided to call her... and my phone bill -- and my life -- were never the same. There are many, many other people in fandom who have similar stories about Toni, I'm sure... Toni was more than just a 'Trek friend.' She was a warm, witty, crazy, caring, profane, outrageous, supportive, wonderfully alive woman that anyone would be proud to call 'friend.' She made a difference in many of our lives that went beyond the bounds of a common interest. but I know that for so many of us, every time we are involved in something Trek-related, we will think of her, remember her... We must believe that she is not really gone, not as long as we remember her.

[anonymous]
A writer whose work bears mention is Toni Cardinal-Price. I read her earlier works with fondness in a tattered copy of COMPANION, and there was a sadness and a joy and a truth in her words that could elicit emotion from me without effort. To say that fandom lost a friend and a poet with Toni's passing is not saying enough. Even though I never knew Toni personally, I feel that she shared herself with me through her work, all of which was beautifully done, from the heart.

[Kathy Resch]
One of the special things about fandom is meeting the people whose names you've known as authors, artists and editors. Toni Cardinal-Price was one of the first people I met once I became actively involved in K/S fandom, and I'll alwaysrememberherwarmandopenwayinthatfirstconversation. Therewas that instant recognition of common thoughts and interests. I saw her several times after that, at various Trek conventions, and my firstimpressionsofherbecamestrengthened: Shewasawelcomingandcaring person, and the fact that I never really had a chance to talk to her at length is one I regret.