Last night was one of those times I'm very happy to be living in Ithaca (so few and far between during the Winter months). I attended a very informal, entertaining and inspirational talk by Mr. Nick Sagan and Mr. JG Hertzler - both with connections to the Star Trek universe (ahhh now the title of this post makes sense!) - cosponsored by Light In Winter and Science Cabaret.
Nick Sagan is a wonderfully approachable, down to earth yet introspective writer and speaker. I enjoyed listening to his insights about writing for Trek and his science fiction novels, and hearing about his latest projects. He strikes me as someone who can still feel, or at least appreciate, the underpinnings of hope and awe that Trek is all about for many people. I don't think screenwriters can write successful sci fi film or TV unless they understand what's really at the heart of it - which to say, the heart. Nick told a lovely story about himself and his dad, Carl Sagan, watching Star Wars when he was a kid. When Han Solo brags about the Millennium Falcon doing the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs, the eminent scientist quibbled over the use of "parsec" (a measure of distance, not time). Nick, according to his story, said something to the effect of "But Dad, it's just a movie." He got it - he got that it was a movie with a lot of heart, which is why generations have found it easy enough to suspend disbelief and enter into the magical universe of the Force (putting Midichlorians aside for the moment).
Clearly, J.G. Hertzler - famous for his role of General Martok on Deep Space 9 - has a similar outlook on what has made Trek so long-lasting and pervasive: the vision of hope for a peaceful society using science for exploration and other positive ends is something we need even more now than in the mid-60s when Roddenberry conceived of his Western in space. Hertzler has clearly enjoyed getting into the skin of a Klingon as part of DS9's in-depth, serial approach to story telling. He admitted that of late, he has felt discouraged by the doings of the human race, which certainly don't seem to support Roddenberry's vision of a united earth (united in a great cause - to kill Klingons. Hilarious).
After the event, I thanked one of the organizers, a friend of mine through the Ithaca League of Women Rollers (Chairman Meow). As much as I kvetch about Ithaca, I have to admit that these kind of connections - the Sagan family and the Serling family - are part of the legacy here. It's hard not to be inspired by all the brilliant minds and creative forces that have at some point in time called this city home.
Here's hoping some of that brilliance and creative exploration of what it means to be human in an other-worldly context is seeping in while I work on my screenplays, Space: 1999 novel, and my film. Qapla'!
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