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More Old School Fandom
Feb. 7th, 2011 08:38 pmOut of curiosity, I hunted down a dogeared copy of the long out-of-print “The Making Of The Trek Conventions” by Joan Winston. This is an account of one cadre of New York-area Star Trek fans (known as the Committee) putting on the now-famous NYC conventions of the 1970s. They did the first, original con in 1972 with more cons through 1976. By then, lots of other people were putting on Trek cons in New York and around the country. The thing that amazes you when you read this book is the sheer amount of work and money these people sank into these enterprises (har har) purely out of love for Trek. They did not get rich off those things.
The first half or so of the book reads like an extended con report from some beleaguered member of Mary Franklin’s Elite Squad at a Celebration. Winston and friends didn’t get to enjoy much of their own shows. They were so busy with the things that inevitably went wrong, they had little time for food or sleep. I got exhausted reading about it. Because Winston wrote the book in 1977 for an audience that knew the scene as it existed back then, there’s not a lot of exposition on how or why they decided to put on these gatherings. Names of fans are casually dropped left and right. It seems it’s assumed that one knew the basics of putting on a con or who these fans were. Which is too bad, because they had to do this without benefit of Twitter, Facebook, etc. in a time when the concept was a new thing. SF cons have been around since the '30s but there was nothing really dedicated to a single t.v. show. It’s hinted in the book that there’s more to be told in another volume Winston co-wrote with two others, “Star Trek Lives” (which I’m reading now). I would have liked to have had more info on the logistics of pulling the whole thing together.
We do learn though that Winston's t.v. biz connections and apparent charm were very helpful. Winston worked originally at CBS yet somehow she managed to finagle her way onto the Star Trek set at Paramount while the show was wrapping up (it originally aired on NBC). She got to meet Gene Roddenberry and most of the principals as well as some of the folks at Paramount. This is supposedly covered in greater detail in "Star Trek Lives," but getting to know the Trek crew made it a whole lot easier to book guests--when all they got were travel and other incidentals covered--and to get episodes on film reels. Star Trek wasn't available on quality videotape back then, so to exhibit the masses their fave episodes, Winston had to get the original films on loan. Paramount must have really trusted her. To think that now all you have to do is pop in a DVD or Blu-Ray.
As you might have figured, the most entertaining parts of the book involve the Trek celebrities. There's some funny stuff with trying to get William Shatner around without getting mobbed. He actually had some fascinating and honest things to say about show biz way back in 1975. There's a fun anecdote about DeForest Kelley inviting Winston and another guest out to a local lounge to catch one of Kelley's friends performing one night. The friend turned out to be Lou Rawls, who found time to drop by the con and watch the infamous Star Trek bloopers reel. Ever wanted to know how Ben Stiller became a big Trek fan? His mother Anne Meara loved the show so much, she dropped by one of the cons with Ben and his sister Amy in tow. There were the "surprise" visits by the ever-popular Leonard Nimoy. There were the insights into the close marriage between Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry. Since Winston was palsies with these people at the time and was for many years afterward, she does get a wee bit effusive with her praise of the Trek cast. If you're looking for dirt or the rivalries among the cast, or more accurately, the rivalry between Shatner and everybody else, it's not in here. It so does not mention at all George Takei's er, then-secret life, something you would not have brought up in 1977 although long-time Trek fans had known he was gay for years. In fact, some Trek fans had dropped that on me many years ago.
I'd heard from some fans who had gone to cons in the '70s that some of those shows got pretty wild. If that was the case at any of Winston's cons, she never mentions it besides some risqué Masquerade costumes and the usual X-rated fangirl artwork. I had a friend who told me a story about how she was bum-rushed at one of the NYC cons when Shatner was a guest; she had to dive under a table and Shatner very nicely helped fish her back out to make sure she was okay. Winston prided herself on keeping things secure but mentions at another rival New York show, things got a little crazy...I wonder if my friend was at that con, not the one put on by the Committee when this happened.
The con scene is in many ways the same as it was then, and in many ways different now. Cons were the primary social tool for fans back then, while now cons are more like events unto themselves. There are only a very small number of fan-run cons around anymore. It has become so expensive to pay guests, rent out space, etc., that most cons are run by companies like Creation. But the basics of a con are still the same, regardless of what it's for or its size: the dealer's room, the main hall/ballroom with the big guests or panels, the art show, the auction, autograph sessions, masquerade/costume balls, and a media room where you can watch movies or shows or whatever on a constant loop.
Another thing that's interesting is how, at least back then, Trek fans and the people who worked on the show were like one big family. If you've ever seen Trekkies, the line between star and fan could get pretty thin at times. I think that these guys were genuinely thrilled that their little cancelled show finally found an audience that was passionate and inspired. There was a lot of love going around. When I started going to Trek shows in the '90s (they were the only party in town), Shatner and Nimoy weren't doing as many appearances but there was the TNG cast, and I've rarely seen anyone who loved doing those things more than Marina Sirtis. Maybe t.v. people are a different breed; I get a lot of that vibe from the wonderful Clone Wars cast and crew. As for the rest of Star Wars fandom, well, for every Mark Hamill we get some Harrison Fords. That's another topic for another day.
The most poignant part of the book isn't the Committee deciding to make the 1976 con its last (not a lot of details besides lack of time) or even the closing of the hotel that hosted most of the cons. It's the fact that so many of the people mentioned in the book--the Roddenberrys, DeForest Kelley, Lou Rawls, James Doohan, and even the author herself--have since beamed up to the big con in the sky. It's even more distressing when I realize that Winston was only a few years older than I was when she was running these cons. She mentions a few times her fantastic memory; tragically ironic since she suffered from Alzheimer's at the end of her life. Many of the other players who are still around are all over 65. Boy, does it ever slip away from you fast.
The first half or so of the book reads like an extended con report from some beleaguered member of Mary Franklin’s Elite Squad at a Celebration. Winston and friends didn’t get to enjoy much of their own shows. They were so busy with the things that inevitably went wrong, they had little time for food or sleep. I got exhausted reading about it. Because Winston wrote the book in 1977 for an audience that knew the scene as it existed back then, there’s not a lot of exposition on how or why they decided to put on these gatherings. Names of fans are casually dropped left and right. It seems it’s assumed that one knew the basics of putting on a con or who these fans were. Which is too bad, because they had to do this without benefit of Twitter, Facebook, etc. in a time when the concept was a new thing. SF cons have been around since the '30s but there was nothing really dedicated to a single t.v. show. It’s hinted in the book that there’s more to be told in another volume Winston co-wrote with two others, “Star Trek Lives” (which I’m reading now). I would have liked to have had more info on the logistics of pulling the whole thing together.
We do learn though that Winston's t.v. biz connections and apparent charm were very helpful. Winston worked originally at CBS yet somehow she managed to finagle her way onto the Star Trek set at Paramount while the show was wrapping up (it originally aired on NBC). She got to meet Gene Roddenberry and most of the principals as well as some of the folks at Paramount. This is supposedly covered in greater detail in "Star Trek Lives," but getting to know the Trek crew made it a whole lot easier to book guests--when all they got were travel and other incidentals covered--and to get episodes on film reels. Star Trek wasn't available on quality videotape back then, so to exhibit the masses their fave episodes, Winston had to get the original films on loan. Paramount must have really trusted her. To think that now all you have to do is pop in a DVD or Blu-Ray.
As you might have figured, the most entertaining parts of the book involve the Trek celebrities. There's some funny stuff with trying to get William Shatner around without getting mobbed. He actually had some fascinating and honest things to say about show biz way back in 1975. There's a fun anecdote about DeForest Kelley inviting Winston and another guest out to a local lounge to catch one of Kelley's friends performing one night. The friend turned out to be Lou Rawls, who found time to drop by the con and watch the infamous Star Trek bloopers reel. Ever wanted to know how Ben Stiller became a big Trek fan? His mother Anne Meara loved the show so much, she dropped by one of the cons with Ben and his sister Amy in tow. There were the "surprise" visits by the ever-popular Leonard Nimoy. There were the insights into the close marriage between Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry. Since Winston was palsies with these people at the time and was for many years afterward, she does get a wee bit effusive with her praise of the Trek cast. If you're looking for dirt or the rivalries among the cast, or more accurately, the rivalry between Shatner and everybody else, it's not in here. It so does not mention at all George Takei's er, then-secret life, something you would not have brought up in 1977 although long-time Trek fans had known he was gay for years. In fact, some Trek fans had dropped that on me many years ago.
I'd heard from some fans who had gone to cons in the '70s that some of those shows got pretty wild. If that was the case at any of Winston's cons, she never mentions it besides some risqué Masquerade costumes and the usual X-rated fangirl artwork. I had a friend who told me a story about how she was bum-rushed at one of the NYC cons when Shatner was a guest; she had to dive under a table and Shatner very nicely helped fish her back out to make sure she was okay. Winston prided herself on keeping things secure but mentions at another rival New York show, things got a little crazy...I wonder if my friend was at that con, not the one put on by the Committee when this happened.
The con scene is in many ways the same as it was then, and in many ways different now. Cons were the primary social tool for fans back then, while now cons are more like events unto themselves. There are only a very small number of fan-run cons around anymore. It has become so expensive to pay guests, rent out space, etc., that most cons are run by companies like Creation. But the basics of a con are still the same, regardless of what it's for or its size: the dealer's room, the main hall/ballroom with the big guests or panels, the art show, the auction, autograph sessions, masquerade/costume balls, and a media room where you can watch movies or shows or whatever on a constant loop.
Another thing that's interesting is how, at least back then, Trek fans and the people who worked on the show were like one big family. If you've ever seen Trekkies, the line between star and fan could get pretty thin at times. I think that these guys were genuinely thrilled that their little cancelled show finally found an audience that was passionate and inspired. There was a lot of love going around. When I started going to Trek shows in the '90s (they were the only party in town), Shatner and Nimoy weren't doing as many appearances but there was the TNG cast, and I've rarely seen anyone who loved doing those things more than Marina Sirtis. Maybe t.v. people are a different breed; I get a lot of that vibe from the wonderful Clone Wars cast and crew. As for the rest of Star Wars fandom, well, for every Mark Hamill we get some Harrison Fords. That's another topic for another day.
The most poignant part of the book isn't the Committee deciding to make the 1976 con its last (not a lot of details besides lack of time) or even the closing of the hotel that hosted most of the cons. It's the fact that so many of the people mentioned in the book--the Roddenberrys, DeForest Kelley, Lou Rawls, James Doohan, and even the author herself--have since beamed up to the big con in the sky. It's even more distressing when I realize that Winston was only a few years older than I was when she was running these cons. She mentions a few times her fantastic memory; tragically ironic since she suffered from Alzheimer's at the end of her life. Many of the other players who are still around are all over 65. Boy, does it ever slip away from you fast.
