Miscellany - Trek Actors Thank Their Internet Fans

Those of you who are regular visitors to the TrekToday and Trek Nation Web sites are no doubt aware that in the past, I have made an unusual request of STAR TREK actors -- instead of the usual autograph-on-a-photo, I've asked them to write a message to their fans on the Internet.

It could be argued that the percentage of people on the Internet worldwide is still rather small, but I thought it would be a great idea if they acknowledged their Internet fan-base for their support.

Nicole deBoer (Ezri Dax)

The first STAR TREK actor I asked was Nicole deBoer at last year's E3 (a computer and videogame industry) convention here in Los Angeles.

I was initially hesitant to make such a request of her, since at most TREK conventions I've attended, in an effort to speed the line up, the staffers generally demand that the fans ask for the actor's autograph only with no personalization whatsoever.

However, since this signing wasn't taking place at a STAR TREK convention, and since the line was shorter and moving faster than at a STAR TREK convention, I thought I had nothing to lose.

And sure enough, when I finally met Nicole and made the request, and to her credit, she happily obliged.

Later that evening, I scanned in the message and sent it to Christian at TrekToday. The next day, word had spread to Nicole's fan sites about her message and I felt great about it.

Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine)

The next STAR TREK actor I asked was Jeri Ryan at last year's premiere of the independent film MEN CRY BULLETS, which she had a supporting role in.

Again, I was initially hesitant, but when I finally met Jeri and made the request, she also happily obliged.

I scanned in the message, but this time, sent it to Christian at TrekToday and Greg Walker from Jeri Ryan's official Web site, who has made it available as a permanent link from the news page.

Repeat the same story for Terry Farrell at last Sunday's Grand Slam convention and Garrett Wang after last Sunday's RanDoM Flight Cruise. Again, when asked, both happily obliged, and you see the results here, although I did have Christian publish the messages early last week as a teaser.

Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax)

I also sent the message to James Blackstone and Eren Reynaga from Terry Farrell's unofficial web site, and they have made it available as a link from the news page.

I was rather surprised to find through this message that Terry has an official site in the works. That seemed to come out of nowhere since she didn't mention it during her question and answer session with the audience, but hey, call it a news scoop for me. [grin]

Garrett Wang (Harry Kim)

As for Garrett, he may have an official site in the works as well. Stay tuned!

By the way, thanks to Nicole, Jeri, Terry, and Garrett for taking time out during their autograph sessions to write these messages for me, as I believe their online fans genuinely appreciate them.

The Holy Grail of My STAR TREK Collection

Perhaps an explanation of the above image is necessary. [grin]

It is a special black script cover for "What You Leave Behind," DEEP SPACE NINE's series finale. According to Lolita Fatjo, 150 of these were originally printed for the cast and crew, but another 150 were printed to accomodate the flood of requests from convention organizers and charities for their own auctions.

A friend of mine was able to attend the cast's last day of filming at Vic's, and obtained autographs from the entire main cast (Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Nicole deBoer, Michael Dorn, Cirroc Lofton, Colm Meaney, Armin Shimerman, Alexander Siddig, and Nana Visitor), as well as many of the supporting cast (Casey Biggs, Jeffrey Combs, James Darren, Aron Eisenberg, J.G. Hertzler, and Penny Johnson), the director (Allen Kroeker), and the executive producers (Ira Steven Behr and Rick Berman).

I later bought it from him and have been on a quest ever since to obtain autographs from the missing supporting castmembers. At this year's Grand Slam I was able to add Mark Alaimo, Louise Fletcher, and Salome Jens, but I'm still missing Rosalind Chao, Barry Jenner, Hana Hatae, and Andrew Robinson (who was originally scheduled to appear at Grand Slam but apparently he was filming an episode of JUDGING AMY and Creation refused to reschedule his appearance).

At any rate, I thought it would be cool to show the script cover because it's so... well... cool! [grin]

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