Happy 90th Gene!

Star Trek Creator, Eugene Wesley Roddenberry
(1921-1991)

When we were small, my brother served as the remote control of the TV set in our family living room.  That was in the days before such things were invented and as ubiquitous as they are now.  I got to see Star Trek a few times - first run - and I liked it, but it was usually my father who asked my brother to please change the channel - to a mystery show called Checkmate!, if I remember correctly, that warred for what was then, prime TV viewing time on Friday nights. 

At college, there was a group that religiously met in the TV room in the basement of our dorm to watch Star Trek, already in syndication.  I remember being in Scotland in the 70s, turning on a TV and seeing Star Trek reruns still happily airing in Edinburgh.

When the first Star Trek movie came out, one we were later to jokingly refer to as "Star Trek: The Motion Sickness", I remember waiting in line for hours to get into the old Cine-Capri theatre in Phoenix.  Accompanying me were a large group of my friends, mostly my own age, but including one 16 yr-old boy, and my dear friend Amy, who at that time was in her 70s.  We were all big fans, and joked about how fun Trek was, and how it had brought us all together.

Last night, many years later, as I sat watching the Vulcan, Mr. Spock, mind meld with a Horta, on late night TV, I contemplated the fact that Star Trek has been a part of my life for a very long while. 

And, despite its age, Star Trek is still a nice world that I enjoy spending time in.

So, I felt that it was only fitting that I pay a small tribute to Mr. Roddenberry, the show's creator, on his 90th birthday.  I think it's great that years after his death, he was one of the first humans to have his ashes sent into outer space.  And that the Star Trek franchise he started so many years ago is still going strong.

I asked some friends if they had anything to add to this little tribute, and here are a couple of responses:

Donna in Connecticut:
"..I loved that Gene was able to get his TV show on the air, a Scifi vehicle for discussing timely topics and the human condition in an intelligent and creative way.  I loved his casting savvy, and I loved that he fought to keep the character of Mr. Spock over that of his own wife [Majel Barrett, who appeared as Nurse Christine Chapel in the series]!  I loved how they created alien settings and costumes on a shoestring (often using nothing more than a shoestring!), and yet somehow everything came together in a way that it was easy to suspend disbelief and want to live in that universe."

Patricia in Washington:
"I greatly admire Gene Roddenberry for his message of hope for mankind's future when we needed it most during the Cold War and civil unrest. His optimistic future included true integration (rather than for political expediency) of human races and aliens, deliverance from nuclear devastation, and elimination of diseases and poverty. What a bright spot in the TV lineup in the 1960s!"

So, Happy Birthday to the Great Bird of the Galaxy!  And also to all those other great folks who share this day [including Jonathan Frakes, Commander William T. Riker of Star Trek: Next Gen], but especially to my dear friend Patricia, who lives way too far away from me. 

It makes me wish we really did have the technology to "beam up" .  Wouldn't that be great?