The View Up Here

Hey y'all. I'm in L.A. right now, and I promise to write about that soon, but first I want to express my thoughts about the Rod Serling Conference at Ithaca College held Sept. 9-10, for which I served as Academic Coordinator. The week leading up to the conference was a bit nutty, as you'd expect, made even nuttier by the fact that the Northeast had just been slammed by a tropical storm (I forget who) that left flooding, evacuations, power outtages and destruction in its wake. Thankfully, the Ithaca, NY area was spared, but many of our attendees and presenters had to carefully pick their routes among roadways and airports not underwater. A few people did have to back out at the last minute, which was very unfortunate. Still, we were ready to go Friday morning, and as if to honor the mood of the Twilight Zone, the fog was intense and didn't let up until close to noon. Our presenters were wonderful, and the overall quality of work presented was by far the most academic o...

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 h...