Charting the Memoirs-verse

Just saw in the newsfeed that Andrew Robinson has one coming out: http://www.trektoday.com/content/2015/10/robinson-pens-memoir/

 

Here's one I didn't know about...

 

Now available on Amazon.com
The Impossible Has Happened: The Life and Work of Gene Roddenberry, Creator of Star Trek by Lance Parkin

 

This one should be interesting

 

I know the "These Are The Voyages" books are controversial. There are the 50-year Mission books. I swear there was a book being done on TMP, but I can't seem to find it.

 

Maybe you're thinking of the terrific Return to Tomorrow?

As far as Cushman's books go...just don't read them.

 

What!?

Marc Cushmans' "These Are The Voyages" are bar none the best books ever written about the production of TOS!

These volumes are so well researched, with factual documentation. How is that in dispute? From memos, to story drafts, episode budgets and production notes, to ratings; the summary of what was going on in the world at the time of each episode production, and behind the scenes photos you won't find in any official publication- these books are amazing to me that they even exist. There is input from people like Dorothy Fontana & Harlan Ellison, all the way to people like Lee Meriweather and Deborah Downey, for Petes' sake.

I think if you own "These Are The Voyages", "The World of Star Trek", "Inside Star Trek", "The Trouble With Tribbles", "Star Trek Sketchbook", and La-La Lands' "TOS Soundtrack Box Set"- you have all you need regarding the making of TOS.

The actors' memoirs are overall disappointing, as they don't seem to remember that much and regurgitate well known stories told 1000x at conventions. Too bad DeForest Kelley never wrote a book tho!

 

I’ve been doing research in the archives these books are largely based on since 2011 (archives which are totally public, contrary to Cushman’s repeated claims to the contrary).

Not only are Cushman’s books littered with hundreds of factual errors, but a healthy portion of the information is entirely fictional - he just made it up.

I’ve published some of my own research on my blog, and although Cushman’s books are not the subject of every piece I’ve written, you can find plenty of material there debunking a multitude of his claims.

 

Yeah, Return to Tomorrow is a must-have if you're at all interested in the production side of things for Star Trek films.

 

Coming in September

 

Is it me, or does it look like his face was Photoshopped onto someone else's body?

 

It does look a bit odd.

 

Thanks for this! I recently started the Shatner penned - Leonard tale

 

I didn't see this one anywhere, but Teri Garr (Roberta Lincoln in Assignment: Earth) wrote an autobiography in 2005 called Speedbumps. She only spends a few pages on her guest spot in Star Trek, but she does say it was her big break.

Also of note to Lit fans, there is a biography of James Blish called Imprisoned in a Tesseract by David Ketterer.

 

Oh, I almost forgot, Lawrence Montaigne, who portrayed Decius in Balance of Terror and Stonn in Amok Time, wrote an autobiography called A Vulcan Odyssey which I found on Amazon.

 

Now available on Amazon in paperback

 

I've made a Google spreadsheet of all the memoirs mentioned here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1n13v5Nb43MPA1Q6j6rWfaNnXgFXX-26teWYaISRcGQg/edit?usp=sharing

 

Coming in July