Gene Coon Biography

[PCz911]

If one sort of reads thru the lines of the gross and Altman book, I'd say that gene created the universe and coon filled it with the characters and relationships that were beloved. God knows that gene's work post ST suffered from a ... Lack of humanity. St:tmp was genes work and it was boring. (Spoiler alert: my opinion)

 

[JonnyQuest037]

He's the big question mark at the center of Trek, for me. I want to credit him for ST more than Roddenberry, but don't have enough info to justify that. I think of him as the mature voice on ST, making sure it stayed an adult drama. But do I really know anything? No.

The episodes produced under his tenure are pretty much all the evidence I need. There's a noticeable uptick in quality while he's in charge, and a noticeable decline in quality once he leaves.

 

[Justin Murphy]

I know this post is a year old. Yet a book on Gene L. Coon has been finished after several months of research and is undergoing end stage prep. As far as living relatives, Jackie is supposedly still alive. She married a politician named Ben Fernandez after Coon's death. Widowed again in 2000. She may have a stepdaughter named Kathleen. Coon had at least two brothers, nothing is known of what became of them. He may have fathered a child, again nothing is known. He also has some cousins still living in Beatrice, Nebraska (his hometown). No contact info on them. There may never be a complete biography on Coon in the personal life/family sense.

However, a treasure trove of stuff was discovered through the archives of The Beatrice Daily Sun, various Trek publications, and The Los Angeles Times. Interesting how Star Trek (especially Season 3) seems lost without him. After It Takes A Thief and his attempt at producing The Name of The Game, he largely returned to being a jobbing TV writer in his final years. So, in a sense, he was lost without them also. Roddenberry and Coon both sort of jobbed around (Granted, Roddenberry created The Lieutenant and Coon did films such as The Killers. Also, Coon's early involvement with The Munsters and McHale's Navy). until Star Trek. A listing of his papers from The University of Wyoming will also be included. Not only was he involved in The Questor Tapes, but also Genesis II and the concept for Roddenberry's pilot/TV Movie Spectre. Airing a few years after his death. And yes, the U of Wyoming papers verify it. They also reveal he did in fact write an unfinished 38 page memoir on his time on Star Trek.

 

[Phaser Two]

This is great news. Please post here again when it comes out. Should be a fascinating read.

 

[Harvey]

They also reveal he did in fact write an unfinished 38 page memoir on his time on Star Trek.

Have you visited the papers and read the incomplete memoir?

There was some speculation among a research group I participate in that this material may have been from one of David Gerrold's books, but if it is actually 38 pages by Coon, it would be a treasure trove.

 

[Justin Murphy]

The Wyoming Papers are the complete listing/annotation. And even that is 30 pages long in and of itself. Don't know if the memoir is Gerrold's, but I think he also has some material at U of Wyoming.

 

[Lieut. Arex]

If one sort of reads thru the lines of the gross and Altman book, I'd say that gene created the universe and coon filled it with the characters and relationships that were beloved. God knows that gene's work post ST suffered from a ... Lack of humanity. St:tmp was genes work and it was boring. (Spoiler alert: my opinion)

TMP would have been immeasurably improved had Coon been on hand to call GR on his BS

 

[Maurice]

Reading the actual memos gives you a different perspective. Roddenberry's notes are often really insightful, and he had a knack for zeroing in on problems and suggesting corrections. It's very easy to dismiss his talents—whatever they were—and contributions when doing broad comparisons, but having read a lot of this stuff it's my opinion that Roddenberry was the anchor that kept Star Trek from drifting. It's more his lack of involvement in places that hurts the show than anything.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Gene Coon's life as told by Spock :

He lived long and prospered. Remember.

 

[Harvey]

The Wyoming Papers are the complete listing/annotation. And even that is 30 pages long in and of itself. Don't know if the memoir is Gerrold's, but I think he also has some material at U of Wyoming.

Based on my experience, finding aids almost never tell the whole story. I hope to one day visit the Coon papers myself and see what exactly they contain, but Wyoming isn't exactly close to me at the moment.

 

[feek61]

Reading the actual memos gives you a different perspective. Roddenberry's notes are often really insightful, and he had a knack for zeroing in on problems and suggesting corrections. It's very easy to dismiss his talents—whatever they were—and contributions when doing broad comparisons, but having read a lot of this stuff it's my opinion that Roddenberry was the anchor that kept Star Trek from drifting. It's more his lack of involvement in places that hurts the show than anything.

Indeed, I couldn't agree more.

 

[Justin Murphy]

True. My mother and grandparents went there on vacation many years ago. Yet it is also true it's not even close to driving distance. A few memos (including one from Roddenberry) do make it into the book. The Beatrice Daily Sun, various Trek publications, and The L.A. Times still provide a great deal of stuff that would not otherwise be known. Including details regarding his early life, military service, and journalism/writing career leading up to Trek. Even a run as a pharmacist and house builder.

I agree on Coon being able to fix TMP. And II-VI were more in line with his version of the show. Wonder what he would've done with Phase II. As for calling GR on his BS. I find it so interesting Shatner (the so called ''jerk'' on the set), Nimoy (who had legal battles with Roddenberry and Paramount in the 70's), and the behind the scenes crew defend Coon on MULTIPLE occasions. Yet the ''decent and humble'' supporting cast of Takei, Nichols, and Koenig etc. have never said ONE WORD about Coon. Always lapping up PR for Roddenberry's ''vision of the future''. I'll spare any mention of Kelley or Doohan as they are no longer with us.

 

[Spock's Barber]

I agree on Coon being able to fix TMP.

I wish that Coon would have stayed with TOS as producer during the 3rd season. Maybe he could have worked some of his magic on creating some better episodes.

 

[Justin Murphy]

He at least wrote a few eps that season as Lee Cronin. Better than nothing. Still not as good as the first two seasons

 

[Maurice]

...I find it so interesting Shatner (the so called ''jerk'' on the set), Nimoy (who had legal battles with Roddenberry and Paramount in the 70's), and the behind the scenes crew defend Coon on MULTIPLE occasions. Yet the ''decent and humble'' supporting cast of Takei, Nichols, and Koenig etc. have never said ONE WORD about Coon. Always lapping up PR for Roddenberry's ''vision of the future''. I'll spare any mention of Kelley or Doohan as they are no longer with us.

Shatner and Nimoy were at first the only stars who appeared in every episode and had enough importance to have any real involvement with the scripts. Kelley got added as third banana in the 2nd season but it was always a distant 3rd place. I think that, more than anything, gave the stars a different perspective.

 

[Justin Murphy]

Still, the supporting cast must've had *some* working relationship with Coon. Since he was on set and Roddenberry (apparently) wasn't after the first ten regular episodes.

 

[Harvey]

Still, the supporting cast must've had *some* working relationship with Coon. Since he was on set and Roddenberry (apparently) wasn't after the first ten regular episodes.

What leads you to believe that Coon was frequently on set? Much of his duties involved managing the writers and the scripts, not the nuts and bolts of production itself (for that, Justman was the guy).

 

[Spock's Barber]

Just a supposition on my part, but Gene Coon must have had a good sense of humor because the 2nd season is where several of TOS most light hearted episodes were made. 3rd season was, oh, so serious.

 

[Justin Murphy]

Shatner and quite a few others (including Roddenberry himself) mentioned ''The Great Bird of The Galaxy'' was not on set after Coon took over. Quite a few (such as Nimoy) mentioned they would frequently see Coon at his typewriter frequently. Doesn't mean Coon was on set either. Yet he may have been working on the Desilu lot every day (please correct me if I'm wrong). I did read up on the Star Trek 45th Anniversary article where Shatner and Nimoy credited Coon. Nimoy and Takei credited Bob Justman. Nimoy also credited Fred Phillips for the Spock ears. Uhura credited Jerry Finnerman for the lighting helping the character's look. And Koenig crediting Nick Meyer for The Wrath of Khan. In terms of who ''The Unsung Hero of Star Trek''.

Ironically, given how Shatner and Nimoy seemed outspoken, it appeared Kelley was more reserved in his opinion than the other two. Is that right?

 

[Justin Murphy]

That's probably true about Coon's humor. He also wrote two comical novels based on his experiences in Korea. Meanwhile Back At The Front and The Short End of The Stick.