I fell in love with Star Trek before it premiered on September 8, 1966, as the commercials and ads ran all summer, driving me crazy with joy! I am an alien contactee who has had contact all my life, and I was thrilled beyond belief as, finally, someone was going to show intelligent aliens on a major television network. Until then, most aliens were evil blobs, creatures that defied reason and logic and were hell-bent on taking over the world.
They would kidnap humans and take over their bodies, and in general, they seemed more hostile and less intelligent than humans (imagine that). Except for “The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)” which starred Michael Rennie and was directed by the brilliant Robert Wise, aliens were hostile, and we shouldn’t look forward to meeting them.
Then along came Star Trek, which lived up to my dreams and then some. I joined the campaign to keep it on the air, with millions of fans overwhelming NBC with protests when they threatened to cancel the show. NBC finally canceled it in 1969, but fans began to gather at conventions after the reruns caught fire and took over the world via syndication.
I saved my money and twice flew to NYC to two enormous conventions in 1974 (20) and 1975 (21) on my 21st birthday. Every prominent actor from the show was there, along with many writers, guest stars, and costume designers. They had an incredible costume contest with prizes for the winners. Gene Roddenberry was there along with Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov & J. Allen Hynek.
I even paid extra for the dinner/dance for a chance to dance with Sulu and Chekov (who liked to get out there and boogie). No, it wasn’t a slow dance, but I was young, super cute, and able to navigate right up beside them, close enough to look in their eyes, flirt, laugh, and evoke a smile out of them. They saw me, and I saw them; we breathed the same air.
Thus, about 20,000 of us gathered together at that particular time and place to change the world and usher in the golden age of Aquarius. We were hopeful, outnumbered the adults, and believed we could change the world and make it a better place for all of us.
I feel blessed that I was able to be in the presence of all this genius, talent, and highly positive energy. Gene was the most amazing person you could ever know. His vision of the future and how we could generate a world of peace inspired us to keep fighting until the authorities caved in and gave us movies, then more series, and so on until today. It seemed Gene was in touch with aliens and knew things he couldn’t speak about, so he fictionalized it so we could grok it.
@Techn0G1rl
12 years agoI was at that convention. It was my first science fiction convention I was 17 years old at he time and I remember it. I sort of recall it was at the New York Hilton and it was packed. You had to wait in a line to get in and there were thousands of people there – I think it was about 5,000 and no one expected that many people to come. I remember that they had an awesome mock up of the transporter room that blew my young mind at the time . Read more
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@brucejackson6451
8 years agoMan, did you catch Isaac Asimov? What a fantastic analysis of the Prime Directive, and what “Star Trek” was saying. Think about when that show first came out, 1966 to 1969, and what was going on? The Vietnam War. And here’s Asimov pointing out the philosophy of “Star Trek” that people have a right to live in their OWN cultures and not be overtaken by other, more powerful cultures. Like America’s, or Russia’s. Can there be any doubt that Gene Roddenberry had some of that in his mind when he created this show? There was a lot more to it than just people dressing up in weird costumes at conventions….although, come on, if you’re with your own kind (your own culture, so to speak) it sounds like fun, doesn’t it?Read more
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@yixnorb5971
6 years agoThese early conventions were the best. I was at the 1973 convention at the Conrad Hilton hotel in Chicago. It went on for three days. There was a 24 hr. film festival and a related art gallery and a great costume contest. Anybody else been there?
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@BCSWowbagger
12 years agoAnyone who wants to make new Trek should watch this video. Star Trek is incredibly, uniquely inspiring… when it’s done right. It’s important that the next iteration bear that in mind.
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@moeskido
12 years agoThank you for uploading this. 1973’s the year before I went to my first convention. What an amazing new thing it was: a gathering of thousands for a dead tv show.
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@BrianDenham
12 years agoThank you so much for loading this video. An awesome look back to the generation that helped secure fandom as it is today.
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@Aliendear
12 years agoThis is one of the best interviews I’ve ever seen.
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@riverw007
6 years agoThe founding fathers of cosplay.
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@htdart
12 years agoAsimov was a fantastic thinker. No wonder he was fond of Trek.
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@snakes3425
8 years agoRIP: Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, and Gene Roddenberry
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@marshroanoke
2 years agoPretty awesome to get the rubber stamp of approval from Isaac Asimov
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@JohnRedshaw
8 years agoIt was at the COMMODORE Hotel, as evidenced by the shot at the poduim. I recall it well, it was right next to Grand Central Terminal, and I got a cab from Penn Station when I could have taken the subway, but I was just a dumb kid! I still have photos I took there, I should get them blown up. You could get up in the balcony around the main ballroom and peer down at everything. Great memories!
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@LGranthamsHeir
3 years agoDC Fontana passed away yesterday. Another ST founder has passed on to the great beyond. RIP.
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@mobody3590
12 years agoThe guy who invented the first Cellular Phone did so because he wanted a Star Trek Communicator. Ron McNair, who died on the Challenger went into space because of Star Trek, specifically because of Nichelle Nichols.
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@FomorViceroy
2 years agoIf they only knew then just how much Star Trek would follow in the decades after this.
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@j.a.stafford1617
1 month agoThank you for this. I was too young and too far away to attend. I could only read about it. :(. Had no idea any videos had been uploaded here until today.
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@MiquelRico
7 years agoFantàstic document sobre EL fenomen cultural de caire utòpic més gran de la recent història.
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@grendalnewgod
7 years agoI love the primitive cosplay. But, the guy with half a lobster stuck to his forehead…
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@Charonchan
12 years agoThis is awesome.
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@robertmeyer5370
3 years agolove it
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@korpiz
3 years agoAh, the brotherhood of intelligence, this is what was so appealing at the time and up till recently, and also what that horror show that is Picard completely lost, as it’s just a chaotic illogical mess of feels.
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@setsunacutey
12 years agoI sometimes forget how OLD fan conventions are. XD
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@riceboy1701e
12 years agoWOW! SIR ISAAC (Asimov)! Most excellent post! Thanks!
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@teenygozer
6 years agoI want to point out to all the current fanboys who bitch and moan that teh wimmin-fans are invading their precious media conventions that MOST OF THE FANS WHO WENT TO THE FIRST MEDIA CONVENTIONS WERE WOMEN. I was at this convention and more than 80% of the people there were girls or women. The only reason any guys at all are in this clip show is because news cameras tended to zero in on any male fans in the audience whenever possible, and still, most of the fans interviewed in this are women. We fangirls welcomed anyone who wanted to come and share the fun.Read more
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@ToraKuma
12 years agoAWESOME! thank you so much!
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@howardmenkes2926
6 months ago (edited)I used to fish with the gentleman who owned the property Desilu filmed on. He used his WW2 GI Bill money to buy hunting land, and they rented it from him for $5000 a day, 9 months of the year. And that began with 1950 money.
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@PizzaDinosaur
12 years agoThe fans look pretty well-adjusted and clean, what happened?????
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@Scienceorc
11 years ago@setsunacutey If you are a nostalgic science fiction fan (like me), I strongly recommend the documentary “Back To Space Con”. Check it out. Its a real treat, like a time machine.
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@nakedstupidity
12 years agoMegan, I’m willing to bet that the scientists, inventors and technologist that advanced science on the wings of Star Trek’s imagination were not the kind to dress up, adorn Spock ears and fawn uncontrollably over being in the company of the original actors. Just a hunch.Read more
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This article explores this hypothesis. With new information regarding alien contact even dating back to pre-Roswell, along with the increasing number of contactees and experiencers who reveal their involvement with aliens and in the SSP, we may be coming full circle. If only Gene were still alive, I’m sure he’d be grinning from ear to ear. But perhaps he looks down on us from another dimension, for it seems life continues in other realms, vibratory frequencies, and dimensions.
I invite you to open your mind and eyes and contemplate the possibility that Star Trek is, was, and always will be. The Federation is here, now, waiting for us to join them in universal peace and prosperity.
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There is significant evidence that its creator, Gene Roddenberry, did not simply develop the idea of Star Trek on his own. Instead, he was encouraged to create the series based on classified information surrounding the development of a secret U.S. Navy space fleet that would build a broad extraterrestrial alliance.
Gene Rodenberry Based Star Trek on Secret US Navy Space Fleet
Written by Dr Michael Salla on September 5, 2016. Posted in Space Programs.
September 8 marks the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Star Trek science fiction series that began in 1966. There is significant evidence that its creator, Gene Roddenberry, did not simply come up with the idea of Star Trek on his own. Instead he was encouraged to create the series based on classified information surrounding the development of a secret U.S. Navy space fleet that would build a broad extraterrestrial alliance. This led Roddenberry to come up with the idea of a United Federation of Planets, with its military headquarters in San Francisco.
Roddenberry began developing ideas for a science fiction show after one of his series had bombed in 1964:
The only reason Roddenberry created Star Trek, at least initially, was to sell another series to a network. He was, if not desperate, anxious… He had just failed with The Lieutenant, for Norman Felton’s Arena Productions … No one was clamoring for another series from Roddenberry, or even his scripts. His agent suggested he come up with a space series… This may have led to what The Outer Limits historians insist are the accurate — if generally unknown — accounts of Roddenberry hanging out at times on the set of The Outer Limits. When I learned this, it wasn’t hard to imagine that series creator, and executive producer, Leslie Stevens … was someone that Roddenberry may have sought to emulate.
This account is confirmed by Tom Seldon, one of the production assistants of The Outer Limits:
Star Trek was in fact an outgrowth of The Outer Limits. Gene Roddenberry watched our dailies all the time and took a lot of phone calls from our screening room. He was spurring his imagination and checking on the incredible quality control we had. I wondered why he was there but he was there more often than not during the time he was coming up with Star Trek.
The following firmly suggests that Roddenberry and Stevens had reached a business arrangement for the planned sci-fi series, Star Trek:
Bearing in mind that Roddenberry was contracted to a rival studio and a rival network, the odds are essentially slim to none that the two men didn’t have some kind of business arrangement, whether in writing or not.
If Stevens and Roddenberry had indeed developed a business arrangement for the new Star Trek series, this is where Stevens background becomes critical in understanding the nature of their arrangement. Stevens was the son of a U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Leslie Stevens who died in 1956.
Vice Admiral Stevens was a contemporary of Rear Admiral Rico Botta who according to a former aerospace engineer, William Tompkins, oversaw a covert Navy espionage program out of Nazi Germany to learn about Nazi flying saucers during World War II. The 29 Navy spies in the program had not only learned that the Nazis had developed up to 30 different flying saucer prototypes, but were also being directly assisted by an extraterrestrial civilization comprising Reptilian hominoids in building secret bases in Antarctica.
Both Admirals Botta and Stevens were leading experts in aerospace engineering and headed top Navy aerospace facilities at various points during their careers. In 1946, both were retroactively promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral as of 1943, for their wartime duties.
Botta went on to head the Naval Air Material Center out of Philadelphia Shipyard from 1950 to 1952. It is from this and similar command assignments that plans began for a secret Navy space fleet aimed to counter what the Nazis had developed in Antarctica.
Similarly, Admiral Stevens was known for his accomplishments in aeronautics and is quoted as having “had a hand in the design or conception of all naval aircraft, aircraft carriers and carrier landing apparatus.” Admiral Stevens’ aeronautics expertise meant that he was almost certainly aware of what Botta had learned about Nazi aerospace projects.
It is more than likely that Admirals Botta and Stevens were the first to comprise a covert Navy leadership group that would oversee the development of a U.S. Navy space fleet based on modern aircraft carrier battle groups that would in time join an interplanetary alliance.
This is precisely what Tompkins says he was asked to do at the Douglas Aircraft Company on behalf of the Navy from 1952 to 1963. Tompkins says that he was covertly assisted by Nordic extraterrestrials while he was helping design kilometers-long spacecraft for future U.S. Navy space battle groups. In interviews, Tompkins has revealed that Nordic extraterrestrials were working directly with senior officers within the U.S. Navy.
Admiral Stevens went on to occupy important positions with the national security council system, including the Psychological Strategy Board where he became Director. Formally established in 1951 by President Truman, it is one of the interagency boards that was set up to disinform the general public about the reality of flying saucers, while secretly gathering information about what other nations were doing in response to the phenomenon.
William Tompkins confirmed, in a private phone call on August 24, that Admiral Stevens was aware of what the Navy had learned about Nazi Germany’s flying saucer programs. He further confirmed that Admiral Stevens played a direct role in setting up a secret U.S. Navy space program, and that his son, Leslie Stevens, IV, was aware of what was happening.
Tompkins claims here are consistent with what he says happened from 1985 to 1999, when he ran an extraterrestrial related “Special Projects” out of the U.S. Navy League center in Medford, Oregon. He said that it was common for Navy officers to have their children briefed about secret space programs and alliances with different extraterrestrial races.
This was done in order to prepare the next generation of navy officers and/or leaders for a world where extraterrestrial life was common knowledge. This is similar to another program happening on the U.S. East Coast as described by Catherine Austin Fitts, a former Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. She was asked to participate in strategy sessions that were being conducted by the Arlington Institute, a non-profit organization headed by John Peterson that was assigned a number of US Navy contracts. Fitts says:
John asked me to help him with a high level strategic plan Arlington was planning to undertake for the Undersecretary of the Navy… I met with a group of high level people in the military in the process — including the Undersecretary. According to John, the purpose of the plan — discussed in front of several military or retired military officers and former government officials— was to help the Navy adjust their operations for a world in which it was commonly known that aliens exist and live among us.
Tompkins has supplied a document confirming that he ran a Special Projects Committee with the U.S. Navy League. Additionally, two retired Navy Officers, Art Lumley (Commander), and Larry Boeck (Captain) have confirmed that Tompkins did discuss extraterrestrial projects at Navy League meetings, and was regarded as an expert on these issues.
Tompkins’ testimony confirms that it was common practice for Navy officers, briefed about extraterrestrial life, to pass on some of this highly classified information to their children. Consequently, it is almost certain that Admiral Stevens revealed to his son, Leslie Stevens, some of the classified details about the existence of extraterrestrial life and secret space programs prior to his death. It is furthermore very possible, that Stevens, Jr., was part of a Navy sanctioned “soft disclosure” process that would use the television/movie industry to reveal elements of the Navy’s planned secret space program.
All this helps considerably in finally understanding the nature of the business relationship between Roddenberry and Leslie Stevens, Jr. Stevens could not himself directly create a science fiction show revealing details of the classified information given to him by his deceased father, but he very likely received tacit permission by Navy officials, to share it with television/movie producers such as Roddenberry who would fictionalize the information.
Consequently, the business relationship between Gene Roddenberry and Leslie Stevens, suggests that Star Trek was initially based on information gained by Admirals Botta and Stevens. A future U.S. Navy space fleet would be developed that would actively cooperate with Nordic extraterrestrials in an alliance that would counter the Nazis and their Reptilian allies. In the Star Trek series, the Nordics were depicted as Vulcans, the Reptilians as Klingons, while the Nazis were represented as genetically enhanced humans.
Furthermore, it is topical to recognize that Roddenberry chose the beautiful, iconic city of San Francisco as the military headquarters for his fictional Starfleet Command in Star Trek, elevating this U.S. city in the hearts and minds of generations as a symbol of humanity’s bright future achievements. It would also directly represent the Navy’s plan for its secret space program becoming a model for integrating other nations in a united partnership.
Two independent sources, former Asian Bureau chief for Forbes Magazine, Benjamin Fulford in 2011, and an anonymous source called the “Hidden Hand” in 2009, have revealed that the Illuminati/Cabal specifically named San Francisco (along with Damascus) as a city that will be made uninhabitable in its Armageddon agenda.
Does San Francisco pose a double threat as both a symbol of hope within the collective psyche, and the truth of a reality it mirrors in the military’s accomplishments? If so, then the Cabal’s goal is not to destroy a city, but to break the collective spirit of a peaceful human vision for a spacefaring future that begins with full disclosure.
The above evidence suggests Star Trek was no mere science fiction series, but was actively encouraged through a business arrangement between Roddenberry and the son of a deceased U.S. Navy admiral, who was directly involved in developing a secret U.S. Navy Space Fleet called Solar Warden. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek on Thursday, it is worth remembering the roles of U.S. Navy admirals that helped launch the real secret space program upon which Star Trek was modeled.
© Michael E. Salla, Ph.D. Copyright Notice
JAN 3, 2009 8:44 AM
The First Star Trek Convention, or How I Got my Geek Cred
https://www.wired.com/2009/01/the-first-star/
As it turns out, I did not go to the first Star Trek Convention ever held. But I went to the second, in 1973. I know this because last week’s New York Times Sunday Magazine ran a piece on Joan WInston, who organized the first fan convention in 1972 and who died during 2008. That […]
As it turns out, I did not go to the first Star Trek Convention ever held. But I went to the second, in 1973.
I know this because last week’s New York Times Sunday Magazine ran a piece on Joan WInston, who organized the first fan convention in 1972 and who died during 2008. That prompted me to climb up in the attic and pull out my bag of Star Trek memorabilia to see what I had. I offer it here as a glimpse of the writer as a GeekKid. I was 16, and I took a bus — by myself — from the suburbs into New York City , where I shared a hotel room for the weekend with a bunch of kids I’d met the previous summer at a National Science Foundation astronomy course that had been given at the Museum of Natural History.
Note: I remember getting invited to a private part with Chekov. Walter and I kept running into one another in the elevator, and I would attempt to communicate with him without sounding so geeky. I didn’t want to see overly fannish, but of course, I was. We laughed as it seemed to happen repeatedly during the event. I wonder if someone has photos of us at Walter’s party. I know there were plenty of people taking photos.
Note that there are no references to “The Original Series” in these artifacts because there were no other series. In fact, in 1973 Star Trek itself was only available in reruns. And yet, tens of thousands of us gathered to … I don’t know, find support for our budding geekiness.
The last Star Trek Convention I attended was here in my hometown. It was a small affair, and featured a couple of Ferengis from Deep Space
Nine as its guests. My oldest was only a baby, so I’m sure he doesn’t remember it. The torch of fandom has yet to be truly passed to the next generation in my family.
(I’m in the crowd there somewhere in that newspaper clipping– I think in the bottom left corner.)
Interesting side note: The first time my husband took me to meet his parents, someone pulled out a photo album. And there was a photo of his little brother sitting next to the same Mr. Spock paper mache mannequin. I knew then I was marrying into the right family.
Kathy Ceceri is an award-winning author and educator who writes about hands-on learning science and technology activities for families and classrooms. She was a top contributor to the GeekDad blog and one of the founding editors of the GeekMom blog. Her website is www.craftsforlearning.com.
Pittsburgh Star Trektacular
https://fanlore.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Star_Trektacular
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| Star Trek Convention | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Pittsburgh Star Trektacular (also known as “Pittsburgh Star Strektacular”) |
| Dates: | December 12-14, 1975 |
| Frequency: | |
| Location: | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Type: | |
| Focus: | |
| Organization: | |
| Founder: | Nansi Hoy |
| Founding Date: | |
| URL: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
| Contents1Fan Comments2Leonard Nimoy’s 1977 Comments3From the Program Book4Con Reports5Press Commentary6References | |
cover of the 1975 program guide. Artist: John Johns: “President of Art Institute of Pittsburgh”
The Pittsburgh Star Trektacular convention was a Star Trek convention held in Pittsburgh on December 12-14, 1975.
Fan Comments
From a fan in early 1976:
If the procons aren’t dealt a heavy blow before long they may well take a permanent place in fandom, so long as it exists. The basics for disarming the procons is available to us though. Already we have seen that the mid-70’s is going to be a time of increasing consumer advocates. An angry press awaits to attack any monster that threatens to swallow an unsuspecting buyer. In many cases large cons can be looked upon as a rip offs provided you are furnished with the right suspicions and the necessary amount of information to dissect their real worth.
So far the press has seen ST cops as everything from absurdly banal to wildly phenomenal, but rarely as a machine for soaking money from fans. A recent article on the Pittsburgh convention described it as “Something Edith Bunker would organize.” Later in the same article Al Schuster was quoted for saying that he sells 12 buttons for $1.00 each and expects to sell 1,000 during any con…along with a bevy of other products. The mention of this fact by the reporter surely proves that the press is getting wind of some of the atmosphere of the cons. In essence the people associated with the large cons are digging their own graves with their mouths. [1]
Leonard Nimoy’s 1977 Comments
I had an unpleasant experience in Pittsburgh about fifteen or sixteen months ago. There was a quote Pittsburgh Star ‘STAR TREK convention’ in Pittsburgh that I was invited to appear at and was offered a fee. I happened to be working in Pittsburgh at that time. I accepted the fee. It was negotiated through an agent in Los Angeles. The night before I was to appear, they didn’t have the money to pay my fee, and called me and said, ‘Don’t come,’ and I said, well what about all those people who you told I was going to be there and I have been in this town in Pittsburgh announcing to the press for weeks that I would be there, and therefore you have taken money from people on the assumption, who are coming on the assumption, that I’m going to be there. ‘Don’t come.’ — So I didn’t. And in my absence, one of the demi-goddesses of STAR TREK fandom [2] stood up and said, ‘Leonard Nimoy does this — he makes promises and doesn’t show up.’ And one of those demi-goddesses was involved in running those two conventions in New York about four or five or six years ago. That I appeared at free without expenses. [3] OK. I’m trying to give you a little bit of a history of where the pain has begun.
Now, shortly after I arrived here, it was announced that there was some difficulty between myself and Paramount, which there is. Major difficulty. It has been going on for some time, and it’s one of those difficulties that I can’t discuss in detail because it is a legal case. However, as a result of that, I got a letter which I will read to you, and which is indicative of a certain train, a certain train of attitudes that I have been picking up words like ‘traitor,’ ‘doesn’t really like STAR TREK,’ ‘hates Spock,’ ‘hates the character,’ ‘hates the fans,’ blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Now I’m going to bleep this letter where it’s appropriate because there are young people in the room.’Dear Nimoy. Good for you. Do not return to STAR TREK. I heartily approve your pretensions to stardom. I look forward to your wrecking the greatest show of all time with your (bleep) tactics. Big man, big money, big book I AM NOT SPOCK. Really fantastic. We all will cheer when you and your fellow star, William Shatner, (I don’t know why he’s attacking Bill. He’s negotiating in good faith with the studio, and I think it’s going to work out.) ‘We will all cheer when you and your fellow star, Willliam Shatner gut the Enterprise of her Captain and Executive Officer next season. You (bleep).’Why the hell should the (bleep) series go on now, if you are going to kick it in the groin before production even starts. You and career can take two running leaps straight into hell. We made you, and we will unmake. So you’re not Spock, uh? The one slimy character of the 60’s to be in the hall of fame along with Matt Dillon and Lucy Ricardo when everything else about television is lost to memory fifty years from now. The one bloody character that became an icon to a generation. Well creep, I’ve got news for you. As long as you live, you will only be known as Spock, Vulcan hero to a planet of youth, and that will be OK with me.’I hereby put a curse on your miserable future career. May 100 million hands turn dials when you appear on the television screen, the great bird of paradise drop turds upon your head daily. May you be banished back to the twilight zone of Kid Monk Baroni, Maloney, Baloney, whatever the hell you were… until the night of Sept. 8, 1966. Do not live long, do not prosper. Shatner can join you in actor’s purgatory. You Benedict Vulcan. It is so sad we loved you madly—an entire federation gone with the wind. Your bosom fan and present life-long enemy.’
And it’s signed. [4]
From the Program Book
Con Reports
Most readers and STW VWs who sent their comments on this con stressed the almost total lack of planning and organization (or to put it plainly, ‘what a mess!’). A change of hotel at the eleventh hour….no info desk….no press arrangements….no central dealers room, just many small scattered rooms….too small a ballroom for guest appearances….Leonard Nimoy didn’t appear….costume show held in 7th floor hallway…. a disappearing committee and Chairman….knowledgable fans tried to step in and help EVERYWHERE. (Comments sent by Becca Oroukin, Dorothy McPherson, Bjo Trimble, Arlene Boyer.). [5]
Most readers and STW VWs who sent their comments on this con stressed the almost total lack of planning and organization (or to put it plainly, ‘what a mess!’). A change of hotel at the eleventh hour….no info desk….no press arrangements….no central dealers room, just many small scattered rooms….too small a ballroom for guest appearances….Leonard Nimoy didn’t appear….costume show held in 7th floor hallway…. a disappearing committee and Chairman….knowledgable fans tried to step in and help EVERYWHERE. (Comments sent by Becca Oroukin, Dorothy McPherson, Bjo Trimble, Arlene Boyer.). [6]
The first Pittsburgh con was held at the William Penn Hotel, December 12th-14th, 1975 and organized by Nansi Hoy, who did a great job. It was her first attempt and we all know that conventions, whoever organises them, have their complications. The majority of the membership enjoyed the convention and ray personal thanks to Nansi Hoy for being so cooperative in letting us have George all Saturday afternoon and evening. Mae, Laurie and Dawn give her their thanks too.
On Friday night we took George to Tambellini’s for an Italian dinner. It wasn’t bad enough getting lost twice, but after we finally arrived- an Italian restaurant specializing in seafood? Now no Italian jokes please, but on our return back to the hotel our driver, and I won’t mention any name, but his initials are Patrick McLaughlin, got us lost again, but George didn’t mind and neither did we. We were treated to a beautiful view of Pittsburgh from what seemed to me the top of a mountain.
Saturday morning George gave a speech and had an interview. Saturday afternoon Mae, Dawn, Laurie, John our photographer and myself took George to see “Twelfth Night”, a Shakespearean comedy with Leonard Nimoy playing the character “Malvolio”. We laughed through the whole play and George’s laugh echoed. Our seats were right on the first row with me on the aisle and George next to me. It was about the middle of the play. Malvolio was walking alone and he picked up a love letter. It was a riddle and he was, with the help of the audience, trying to figure out that the letter was talking about him.
He came into the audience and wound up right next to me and when I looked up at Leonard, I started to laugh. George was laughing and I could not take the letter that Leonard was giving me to hold for him, so finally he took my hand and shoved the letter into it. The audience applauded and all, especially me, went into a laughing fit. During the intermission I went to the ladies room to get away from the people and as soon as I walked in some people said, “How does it feel to be in a play with Leonard Nimoy”? Well, I felt honored, but stupid at the same time.
Backstage Leonard said, “I didn’t embarrass you did I”? I said, “Not at all, it was more like I embarrassed you”. But he was holding my hand and I soon forgot my stupidity. After the play we had dinner at a seafood restaurant in Allegheny Square where the theatre was located. Now believe this, a seafood restaurant which served Italian food. Well, we accomplished Saturday what we set out to do Friday night. George is so sweet, he just goes along with whatever happens, but then we always have a good time when George is around.
Sunday morning was the brunch with the stars which was enjoyed by all. On Sunday after De gave a speech, the art auction was conducted by Al Schuster who always does a fantastic job.We had a fabulous time, so come on Nansi, start organizing the second Pittsburgh con! [7]
Press Commentary
The “Star Trektacular,” a convention of devotees of television’s “Star Trek” got off to a shaky start Friday with hundreds of fans walking around in a daze trying to find activities that didn’t cost anything. “What’s going on today? A lot of confusion that’s all,” said one of the convention workers. Programs for the three-day affair being held at the William Penn Hotel hadn’t arrived yet so most of the visitors wandered through the exhibits aimlessly. The lack of programs didn’t assuage the hucksters as they pushed Star Trek buttons (75 cents), comic books (one dollar), T-shirts ($2.25 depending on what you put on it), “phasers” (the weapons of Star Trek space adventurers) and slides and paintings of the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Organizers’ of “Pittsburgh’s first Trektacular said about 2,000 people had registered for the convention. [8]
Star Trektacular in Pittsburgh appears to have been no different as it was ripe with difficulties from the very beginning. The convention was originally scheduled for the Pittsburgh Hilton, for instance, but was relocated to the William Penn Hotel after a misunderstanding caused the Hilton to believe that the event had been cancelled. Souvenir programs for Star Trektacular were still being printed hours after the convention officially convened, meanwhile, and William Theiss, who served as costume designer on Star Trek, was stranded at the airport because no one was available to pick him up. [9]
…..estimates ranged from one-to-five thousand Star Trek fans attending the event—including Bjo Trimble herself, who is listed as “Honored Ambassador” in the program—with a confirmed 2,500 tickets sold beforehand. There was a full-slate of activities scheduled as well, including a breakfast with the actors that was limited to four hundred attendees, an art show, trivia contest and costume contest. Official hours for Star Trektacular ran from 11am to 4pm each of the three days that it was held, with episodes of the original series being shown during the evening hours and extending into the early morning .[10]
Although it was only 1975, Star Trektacular was equipped with computer terminals courtesy of On-Line Systems Inc. that featured computer game simulations and trivia quizzes. John Johns, president of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh at the time, designed the souvenir program for the event, while an additional ten Steel City fans were listed as organizers of the convention along with Nancy Hoy. Then there was the Dealers Room, which featured a full-array of Star Trek themed items—from books to buttons, comics to posters, jewelry to T-shirts.”[11]
“It’s a good living because right now there’s not much competition,” one of the vendors [12] explained to the Pittsburgh Press. His specialties were “Vulcan nickel” buttons that sold for 50 cents and a larger version that went for one dollar, each of which cost only 12 cents to produce. “I figure to sell one thousand buttons during the convention,” the dealer added. “You figure out what I’ll make.” At least one attendee, however, took exception to the hawking of Star Trek merchandise. “All the commercialism really is a shame,” Bjo Trimble told the Pittsburgh Press. “With the movies, trivia contests and fashion shows, these conventions can really be fun. [13]
References
- ^ from M.J. Fisher in Con Descending
- ^ He is referring to Nansi Hoy.
- ^ “Having secured a hall at a local college and notified all the Pittsburgh press, Mr. Nimoy did a free public appearance on the Saturday following the convention.”
- ^ Leonard Nimoy Addresses the Star Trek America Convention (1977)
- ^ from A Piece of the Action #36
- ^ from A Piece of the Action #5
- ^ from At the Helm #1/2
- ^ The Pocono Record – 13 Dec 1975.
- ^ The 1975 Star Trektacular and Twelfth Night, Archived version
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ This vendor was Al Schuster.
- ^ Ibid.
1975 Star Trektacular and Twelfth Night
November 4, 2014
There are many ties between the Star Trek franchise and the works of William Shakespeare. The first season of the original series, for instance, featured an episode entitled “The Conscience of the King” in which Captain James T. Kirk becomes convinced that the main actor in a traveling theater troupe is a former colony governor responsible for the massacre of 4,000 people. Twenty-five years later – during the motion picture Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country – a Klingon chancellor tells Kirk, “You have never experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon.”
Star Trek: The Next Generation likewise contained multiple references to the Bard, and even included Shakespearean actors Patrick Stewart in the role of Captain Jean Luc Picard and John de Lancie as Q amongst its cast. After three seasons of portraying a Vulcan on the original Star Trek – followed by two years as a “master of disguise” espionage agent on Mission: Impossible – Leonard Nimoy decided it was time for him to tackle Shakespeare, choosing the role of Malvolio in a 1975 Pittsburgh Public Theater production of Twelfth Night.
“Stretching yourself with different kinds of roles is what it’s all about for me,” Nimoy told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at the time. “I’ve been studying and reading and watching Shakespeare long enough to feel excited and positive about it. The biggest problem an actor has is finding good material. With Shakespeare you know that not only do you have good material, you have a proven piece that has been staged successfully many times.”
Despite a career almost exclusively centered on the television medium, Leonard Nimoy was no stranger to the stage by the time he arrived in Pittsburgh, having performed in such classics as Camelot, Fiddler on the Roof, The King and I, and The Man in the Glass Booth. Two of those productions were directed by Ben Shaktman, founder of the Pittsburgh Public Theater and the organization’s first general director. It was Shaktman’s involvement in Twelfth Night that played a key part in Nimoy’s decision to make his Shakespearean debut in the Steel City.
“I talked to Ben for a long time before the Public Theater got started and I knew all about his fantasies and dreams for the theater,” Nimoy explained. The actor was equally impressed with the strength of the theater community in the region. “I’ve seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and I sense the Pittsburgh audience is really interested in coming here and seeing these plays,” he added. “Cuckoo’s Nest is sold out. I understand Glass Menagerie did very well and we’re almost sold out for Twelfth Night already.”
Although Leonard Nimoy was in Pittsburgh for Shakespeare, he couldn’t escape Star Trek even though the three-season original series ended the previous decade and was still four years away from being revived on the big screen. “I’m laughing because I just can’t believe it,” Nimoy told the Post-Gazette regarding the continued popularity of the series. “There’s never been another show like it. I think the interest in Star Trek is a healthy, educational thing.”
When Pittsburgh-based Star Trek fan Nancy Hoy realized that Leonard Nimoy would be in town for Twelfth Night, she decided to organize a Star Trektacular Convention in the city to coincide with his appearance. After contacting another fanclub located in New York, she discovered that other members of the main cast – including William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, and George Takei – were available the weekend of December 12, 1975, making Star Trektacular a mini-reunion for the actors of the original series.
In her 1983 memoirs On the Good Ship Enterprise: My Fifteen Years with Star Trek, legendary Star Trek fan Bjo Trimble discusses the various Star Trek conventions that popped up around the country during the 1970s. Many of them, including those in Chicago and Los Angeles, were organized by fans that had no prior experience at constructing such a convention, thus leading to a certain level of disorganization within the proceedings.
Star Trektacular in Pittsburgh appears to have been no different as it was ripe with difficulties from the very beginning. The convention was originally scheduled for the Pittsburgh Hilton, for instance, but was relocated to the William Penn Hotel after a misunderstanding caused the Hilton to believe that the event had been cancelled. Souvenir programs for Star Trektacular were still being printed hours after the convention officially convened, meanwhile, and William Theiss, who served as costume designer on Star Trek, was stranded at the airport because no one was available to pick him up.
Despite such hiccups, estimates range from 1,000 to 5,000 Star Trek fans attending the event – including Bjo Trimble, who was listed as “Honored Ambassador” in the program – with a confirmed 2,500 tickets sold beforehand. Official hours for Star Trektacular were from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each of the three days that it was held, with episodes of the original series being shown during the evening hours and extending into the early morning. There was a full-slate of activities scheduled as well, including a breakfast with the actors that was limited to 400 attendees, an art show, trivia contest, and costume contest.
Although it was 1975, Star Trektacular was equipped with computer terminals courtesy of On-Line Systems Inc. that featured computer game simulations and trivia quizzes. John Johns, president of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh at the time, designed the souvenir program for the event, while an additional ten Steel City fans were listed as organizers of the convention along with Nancy Hoy. Last but not least, there was a Dealers Room that featured a full-array of Star Trek themed items – from books to buttons, comics to posters, jewelry to T-shirts.
“It’s a good living because right now there’s not much competition,” one of the vendors explained to the Pittsburgh Press. His specialties were “Vulcan nickel” buttons that sold for fifty cents and a larger version that went for one dollar, each of which cost only twelve cents to produce. “I figure to sell one thousand buttons during the convention,” the dealer added. “You figure out what I’ll make.”
At least one attendee, however, took exception to the hawking of Star Trek merchandise. “All the commercialism really is a shame,” Bjo Trimble told the Pittsburgh Press. “With the movies, trivia contests and fashion shows, these conventions can really be fun.” Leonard Nimoy offered a similar viewpoint a few weeks later. “When a Star Trek convention is done right, the focus is on the show and the cast,” he explained to the Pittsburgh Press. “But when it’s not well organized and the dealers take over, the fans feel angry and ripped off and nobody is happy.”
Despite being in Pittsburgh for Twelfth Night, Nimoy was a no-show at Star Trektacular due to a pay dispute. Not wanting to disappoint fans, he arranged for a solo appearance at the University of Pittsburgh’s Lawrence Hall the following Saturday. Attendance numbered in the hundreds, and while the audience appreciated the self-penned poetry that Nimoy read during the proceedings, the loudest cheers were for his anecdotes regarding Star Trek. “I really can’t stop the Star Trek craze, so I enjoy it,” he told the Pittsburgh Press afterwards.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a long way from the Final Frontier of outer space, but during a few weeks in December 1975, the crew of the USS Enterprise traveled to the Steel City nonetheless – to the obvious delight of thousands of Star Trek fans in the region.
Anthony Letizia
