2003 Program Participants
CLICK A COVER FOR PROGRAM PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES FROM OTHER YEARS
---
HOME
 ||  TREKTRAK VIDEOS  ||  TREKTRAK PHOTO ALBUM
---
Armstrong · Balder · Berman · Carter · Crispin · David · Dourif · Fitts · Hertzler · Jones · Kilpatrick · Koenig · Lambeth · Lumsden · Masterson · Nemecek J. · Nemecek L. · Nowell · Sackett · Starr · Strickland · Spanks · Sussman · Takei · Ulbrich · Watts
---
Vaughn Armstrong
Meet Admiral Forrest: An Hour with Vaughn Armstrong
TrekTrak Presents: J. G. Hertzler and Vaughn Armstrong
Enterprise: The Verdict
The 2003 Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant
Vaughn has appeared as more major characters in the various Star Trek series than any other actor.  In The Next Generation, he played Korris, the first modern-day Klingon besides Worf, in "Heart of Glory," and in Deep Space Nine, he played Gul Dunar in "Past Prologue."  In Voyager, he played Telek Ramor in "Eye of the Needle," Two of Nine in "Survival Instinct," the Vidiian captain in "Fury," Alpha-Hirogen in "Flesh and Blood, Part I," and Korath in "Endgame, Part I."  In spite of those seven guest roles over the course of 13 years, Vaughn is now best known to Star Trek fans as Starfleet's Admiral Forrest, a role he has played, so far, in 15 episodes during Enterprise's first two seasons.
        His other television appearances include guest and recurring roles on Babylon 5, 7 Days, ER, West Wing, NYPD Blue, Seinfeld, The Beast, Frasier, Moesha and a hundred more.  His film credits include Clear and Present Danger, The Net, Philadelphia Experiment, and Triumphs of a Man Called Horse, to name a few.  On stage, Vaughn has portrayed Brutus in Julius Caesar, Macduff, Cassio in Othello, ad infinitum.  His 32-year career has included producing, directing and stage design, as well as acting.
        This is Vaughn's second appearance on TrekTrak.

Rob Balder
The TrekTrak Filksing
Rob is the creator of the clip-art comic strip PartiallyClips, which runs weekly in 12 US newspapers and can be found on the web at www.partiallyclips.com.  He also regularly contributes fiction, poetry, comics and filks to the pages of Nth Degree (www.nthzine.com).  The first PartiallyClips book is expected to be available in November 2003.

Steve Berman
The Missing Minority
Steve is the author of the new collection of GBLTI short stories called Trysts.  On a trip to Los Angeles to seal a deal to ghost-write the autobiography of a gay porn star (which fell through), he had the most amazing romp with a little goth boy and he began work on Vintage as an ode to that lost boy.  It was immediately picked up by the Gay Goth Network and chapters were serialized every two months.  Since then, the story has changed a little and now awaits publication.  In between work on that book, he began to think of selling a collection of his short stories, which he had written and published over the years.  A few of his creative (and wealthier) friends had decided to create a publishing company that would release books of gothic interest and during an afternoon of alcohol-laced hot choc in the city, it was decided that Lethe Press would publish his newest book, Trysts.

Melissa Carter
The Missing Minority
Melissa is part of "The Bert Show" mornings on radio station Q100 in Atlanta and is the only full-time out gay DJ in the city.  She served as Grand Marshal for the 2002 Atlanta Gay Pride parade and was featured in the national lesbian magazine Curve earlier this year.  Some of her early influences include Lt. Uhura, Dr. Beverly Crusher and Deanna Troi.  Kira Nerys, Seven of Nine and Captain Janeway continued to mold Carter well into her 20s.  Melissa has attended Dragon*Con for several years and has been spotted at other Trek conventions in St. Louis, Indianapolis, and New Jersey.


Ann C. CrispinAnn C. Crispin
TrekTrak Presents: An Hour with Ann C. Crispin
A. C. Crispin is the author of the bestselling Star Trek novels Yesterday's Son, Time for Yesterday and The Eyes of the Beholders.  Her hardcover Star Trek novel Sarek spent five weeks on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list.  She has written a number of Star Trek short stories in recent years.  "Last Words" was published in the premiere issue of the rejuvenated Amazing Stories, and "Just Another Little Training Cruise" was released in the most recent edition of Enterprise Logs from Pocket Books.  She recently authored the graphic novel Star Trek: Enter the Wolves for DC Comics, and has signed to do a new trilogy in her "Yesterday" series.

        Crispin and legendary fantasy author Andre Norton have collaborated to produce Gryphon's Eyrie and Songsmith for Tor Books. Fans of the Witch World have reacted enthusiastically to both works.
        Crispin's major undertaking to date has been her original StarBridge series for Berkley/Ace. The series titles include StarBridge, Silent Dances, Shadow World, Serpent's Gift, Silent Songs, Voices of Chaos and Ancestor's World. The books center around a school for young diplomats, translators and explorers, both alien and human, located on an asteroid far from Earth. The first novel in the series was placed on the American Library Association's Young Adult Services Division's list of Best Books of 1991, and Silent Dances (co-authored with Kathleen O'Malley) made the 1991 preliminary ballot for the Nebula Award, given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Serpent's Gift (with Deborah A. Marshall) was placed on the 1993 Recommended Books for the Teen Age by the New York Public Library. Book five, Silent Songs (also written with O'Malley) was nominated for the A.L.A Young Adults "Best Books" list. StarBridge books six and seven have also been released. Ancestor's World was written with T. Jackson King, and Voices of Chaos was written with noted fantasy author Ru Emerson.
        Upcoming works include a fantasy trilogy for Harper, Exiles of Boq'urain. The titles for the individual books are Storms of Destiny, Winds of Vengeance and Flames of Chaos. In 1995, Ms. Crispin wrote two short stories for the Bantam Books Star Wars publishing program, "Play It Again, Figrin D'an" and "Skin Deep" for the anthologies Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina and Tales from Jabba the Hutt's Palace.
        These stories led to an invitation to write the Han Solo trilogy about the pre-Star Wars adventures of Han Solo for Lucasfilm/Bantam: The Paradise Snare, The Hutt Gambit and Rebel Dawn. Coming as they did during the 20th anniversary of the release of the first film, these books represent a major breakthrough for the bestselling Star Wars franchise -- never before has Lucasfilm authorized a writer to "fill in the blanks" about a major character's history.
        Speaking of movie tie-ins, A. C. Crispin, in collaboration with Kathleen O'Malley, wrote the novelization for the movie Alien Resurrection.
        After many years as a SFFWA officer, Ms. Crispin currently serves as Chair of the Writing Scams Committee for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
        Her teaching credits include a semester-long "Writing for Profit" course at Charles County Community College, two two-day writing workshops for Harrisburg Area Community College, a two-day writing seminar at Towson State University, a semester-long course for Anne Arundel Community College, and numerous mini-workshops at science fiction and Star Trek conventions, where she is a frequent guest.


Peter DavidPeter David
TrekTrak Presents: An Hour with Peter David
Peter David is a prolific author whose career, and continued popularity, spans nearly two decades.  He has worked in every conceivable media: television, film, books (fiction, non-fiction and audio), short stories and comic books, and acquired followings in all of them.
        In the literary field, Peter has had over forty novels published, including numerous appearances on the New York Times Bestsellers List. Publishers Weekly described him as "a genuine and veteran master."  Probably his greatest fame comes from the high-profile realm of Star Trek novels, where he is the most popular writer of the series, with his title Imzadi being one of the best-selling Star Trek novels of all time.  He is also co-creator and author of the bestselling New Frontier series for Pocket Books.  A partial list of his titles include Q-Squared, The Siege, Q-in-Law, Vendetta and A Rock and a Hard Place, plus such original science fiction and fantasy works as Knight Life, Howling Mad, and the Psi-Man adventure novels.  He has also had short stories appear in such collections as Shock Rock, Shock Rock II and Otherwere, as well as Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
        Peter has written more comics than can possibly be listed here, remaining consistently one of the most acclaimed writers in the field.  His resume includes an award-winning twelve-year run on The Incredible Hulk, and he has also worked on such varied and popular titles as Supergirl, Young Justice, Soulsearchers and Company, Aquaman, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, X-Factor, Star Trek, Wolverine, The Phantom, Sachs & Violens and many others.  He has also written comic book-related novels, such as The Hulk: What Savage Beast, and co-edited the Ultimate Hulk short story collection.  Furthermore, his opinion column "But I Digress" has been running in the industry trade newspaper The Comic Buyers Guide for nearly a decade, and in that time has been the paper's consistently most popular feature and was also collected into a trade paperback edition.
        Peter is the co-creator, with popular science fiction icon Bill Mumy (of Lost in Space and Babylon 5 fame) of the Cable Ace Award-nominated science fiction series Space Cases, which ran for two seasons on Nickelodeon.  He has also written several scripts for the Hugo Award-winning TV series Babylon 5, and the sequel series Crusade, as well as the animated series Roswell.  He has also written several films for Full Moon Entertainment and co-produced two of them, including two installments in the popular Trancers series as well as the science fiction western spoof Oblivion, which won the Gold Award at the 1994 Houston International Film Festival for best Theatrical Feature Film, Fantasy/Horror category.
        Peter's awards and citations span not only an assortment of fields, but the globe.  They include: the Haxtur Award 1996 (Spain), Best Comic script; OZCon 1995 award (Australia), Favorite International Writer; Comic Buyers Guide 1995 Fan Awards, Favorite writer; Wizard Fan Award Winner 1993; Golden Duck Award for Young Adult Series (Starfleet Academy), 1994; UK Comic Art Award, 1993; Will Eisner Comic Industry Award, 1993.
        Recently his work was again nominated in two categories for the Eisners, and in the recent SFX Readers Awards he was the sixth most popular author in the field, with four of his books finishing in the top ten in their category.
        This is Peter's tenth year on TrekTrak.

Brad DourifBrad Dourif
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager Guest Stars
Brad began his acting career at Columbia University in New York City.  He performed with the Circle Repertory Company for three years.  Though he had been appearing in numerous play productions such as The Ghost Sonata and The Doctor in Spite of Himself, he got his first break when he was discovered by director Milos Forman while doing the off-broadway play, When You Comin' Back, Red Rider?  Milos cast him opposite Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  The role of Billy Bibbit ultimately landed him nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.  He has since starred in Dune, Blue Velvet, Wild Palms, Graveyard Shift, Body Parts, Escape to Witch Mountain, The Eyes of Laura Mars, Urban Legend, Alien Resurrection and all five Child's Play films (as Chucky).  His most recent role is that of Grima Wormtongue in all three of the forthcoming Lord of the Rings films.  His numerous television appearances have included roles on The Norm Show, The Magnificent Seven, Millennium, Babylon 5, The X Files, Tales from the Crypt, The Hitchhiker, The Equalizer and as Crewman Lon Suder in the Star Trek: Voyager episodes "Meld" and "Basics," Parts I and II..  You can find out more about Brad at www.dourif.com.

Martin Fitts
The Missing Minority
Martin is a fan of all the various Star Trek series and has been interested in science fiction and fantasy his entire life. Growing up gay was less than desirable, he says, and science fiction and fantasy allowed him to leave his life behind, go somewhere else and be someone else.  Martin is a member of Atlanta Outworlders. This is his first appearance on TrekTrak.


J. G. Hertzler as General MartokJ. G. Hertzler
Meet General Martok: An Hour with J. G. Hertzler
TrekTrak Presents: J. G. Hertzler and Vaughn Armstrong
Enterprise: The Verdict
The 2003 Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant

J. G. HertzlerPrior to his incarnation as the Klingon General Martok in 26 episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, J. G. Hertzler appeared as the Vulcan captain of the starship Saratoga in the pilot episode "Emissary" and has since appeared as the Hirogen Hunter in the Star Trek: Voyager episode, "Tsunkatse," as well as the Klingon Kolos in the Enterprise episode "Judgment" this past season.
        Previous to this, J. G.'s career included some 40 episodes of The New Zorro for the Family Channel, where he starred as Zorro's evil nemesis, Alcalde Ignacio DeSoto.  Other television and film appearances include episodes of Quantum Leap, Seinfeld, Dr. Quinn, Diagnosis Murder, Lois & Clark, General Hospital and One Life to Live.  Movies include Ashtown: Prophecy 2 and his most recent television movie, Pirates of Silicon Valley, where J. G. plays director Ridley Scott.
        On the legitimate stage, J. G.'s career has spanned the United States from Broadway to Los Angeles, appearing in over 50 Shakespearean productions at the Guthrie, ACT in San Francisco, the Folger Theatre and festivals from Maine to New Jersey to California.  He has worked as a stage director and Artistic Director for many classical productions.  J. G. recently directed and starred in Prospero's Forest, an evening in the Hollywood Hills dedicated to increasing the awareness of continuing deforestation of the ancient giant redwoods of North America.  Currently living in the Los Angeles area, J. G. is writing in every spare minute, including those between the scenes on the bridge of his Bird of Prey, the I.K.S. Rotarran.

Chris JonesChris Jones
Enterprise: The Verdict
Chris has been a Star Trek and science fiction fan in one capacity or another for most of his life.  He cut his teeth on shows such as Lost in Space,Johnny Quest and the original Star Trek in the 1960s and has continued his involvement in Trek and SF shows, stories and activities to the present day.  Chris has participated in gaming as far back as the mid-'70s, starting with some of the board strategy games, then into RPGs such as D&D, Traveler, Aftermath and Fading Suns.  Though his primary occupation is as a computer technician, he has served many years in the military under multiple occupations, been an extra in TV and movies and works part-time for Holistic Design, running game demos.  Chris is currently a member of the Klingon Assault Group, for whom he helps coordinate public events such as Toys for Tots.  He also designs insignia and accessories for Klingon costumes.

Patrick Kilpatrick
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager Guest Stars
As rugged as he is gentle, the 6' 2", 200-pound Patrick Kilpatrick is equally well-known for his memorable screen villains against most of Hollywood's leading action heroes as he is for playing the redemptive role of Wesley the Dad in Free Willy 3.
        A profoundly committed dramatic actor whose athletic prowess has enabled him to do most of his own stunts, the one-time journalist has been one of Hollywood's busiest actors for several years.  Patrick's recent work includes the long-anticipated sci-fi actioner Minority Report, opposite Tom Cruise and directed by Steven Spielberg.
        Patrick appeared in the series finale of Roswell, and has appeared in Dark Angel, The X-Files and the TNT movie Crossfire Trail opposite Tom Selleck and Wilford Brimley.  Star Trek fans will remember Patrick as Razik in the Voyager episode "Initiations," Reese in the Deep Space Nine episode "The Siege of AR-558" and Assan in the Voyager episode "Drive."
        When not in front of the cameras, Patrick, trained by LAPD and Navy SEAL pros, pursues active passions for fencing, scriptwriting, weaponry and travel.  He has a strong appreciation of linguistics, is known for his broad use of dialects in roles and is a gastronome of organic, elegant food and wine. Patrick, whose personal interests lie in all things connected with movies, theatrical spectacle, veterans and politics, has one true love: fatherhood.  His favorite pastime is conversations with his two young sons, Ben and Sam.


Walter KoenigWalter Koenig
TrekTrak Presents: An Hour with Walter Koenig
From Girls of Summer to The Boys in Autumn, Walter Koenig's stage career spans thirty years and includes stops in New York with A Midsummer Night's Dream and Six Characters in Search of an Author.  In Chicago, he guested in Make A Million (as Johnny) opposite Jackie Coogan and on the road -- from Arizona to Philadelphia -- opposite Mark "Sarek" Lenard.  He performed in the short plays Box and Cox and Actors.  By himself, Walter also starred as Larry the Liquidator in Other People's Money in Reno, Nevada.
        His Los Angeles productions include Steambath, The White House Murder Case, Night Must Fall, La Ronde, The Typist and the Tiger and The Deputy, among almost two dozen others (Blood Wedding, The Collection, et al.)
        Directorial credits include Hotel Paradiso for Company of Angels, Becket for Theatre 40, America Hurrah! at Oxford Theater, Twelve Angry Men at the Rita Hayworth Theatre, Matrix at the Gascon Theatre Institute and Three by Ten at Actor's Alley.
        Walter has performed in the television movies Anthony and Cleopatra (as Pompey) opposite Timothy Dalton and Lynn Redgrave as well as the Mow's Goodbye Raggedy Anne and The Questor Tapes.  He has also appeared on dozens of other television series and of course, as Chekov in the original Star Trek TV series.
        Walter reprised the character of the Russian navigator in the first seven Star Trek films and in 1988 took the leading role in the video feature Moontrap.  Walter has written for the television series Family, Powers of Mathew Starr, Class of '65, Land of the Lost and the Star Trek animated show.
        This actor-writer has seen publication with the non-fiction Chekov's Enterprise and the satiric fantasy novel Buck Alice and the Actor-Robot.  He also created the three issues of the comic book story Raver, published by Malibu Comics.
        Walter has taught classes in acting and directing privately and at UCLA, The Sherwood Oaks Experimental Film College and at the California School of Professional Psychology.  Most recently, he has been an instructor at the Actors' Alley Repertory Company in Los Angeles.
        Over a period of five years, Walter toured with Mark Lenard in the two-character play, The Boys in Autumn, the comedy-drama about the reunion of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn forty years later.
        Walter played the recurring role of the quintessential bad guy Bester on the television series Babylon 5.  He was the Special Guest Star in twelve episodes and at the end of the third season, Babylonian Productions applied for an Emmy nomination on his behalf.
        In an interactive state-of-the-art video game from Digital Pictures called Maximum Surge, Walter stars as "Drexel," another bad guy.  Walter has also completed work on the low-budget feature film Drawing Down the Moon from Chaos Productions, and has star billing as a German psychologist in the martial arts picture Fist of Justice.  A one-character piece that Walter wrote and performed entitled You're Never Alone When You're a Shizophrenic was a finalist in the 1996 New York Film Festival awards.
        Walter filmed a guest appearance as himself on the CBS situation comedy Almost Perfect, did sketch comedy on the Comedy Central series Viva Variety, and performed on an ESPN sports commercial that aired in 1998.  The Viacom CD-ROM Starfleet Academy, in which Walter reprised the character of Chekov, continues to sell impressively.
        His autobiography, Warped Factors - A Neurotic's Guide To The Universe, was released through Taylor Publishing in April 1998.  Most recently, Walter perfomed as the Shadow Guy in an episode of Diagnosis Murder and went to New York to perform in a new radio broadcast version of War of the Worlds in tribute to both H.G. Wells and Orson Welles.


Cheralyn LambethCheralyn Lambeth
Professional Star Trek Costume-Building
Cheralyn began creating her own costumes and creatures at the tender age of ten, when her mother finally refused to make any more odd costumes for her at Halloween.  She carried this obsession with her into college at UNC Chapel Hill, where, after having failed miserably as an Air Force reservist, she switched her major from math to something much more useful, such as Dramatic Arts and Radio/Television/Motion Pictures.  Shortly after graduation, Cheralyn descended upon New York to study costuming, wigs and make-up at the Juilliard School, and achieved her first fifteen minutes of fame by making her off-Broadway debut, appearing with John Leguizamo in Mambo Mouth.  From there, Cheralyn moved to Minneapolis to create Muppet costumes for Sesame Street Live, and returned to New York a year later to work with Jim Henson Productions on the TV series Dinosaurs! and the film The Muppet Christmas Carol.  In between work and more work, Cheralyn served as a playtester for the Star Wars RPG module Mission to Lianna, and has written articles for such science fiction-related periodicals as Con-Tour Magazine and Bjo Trimble's Sci-Fi Spotlite
        Most recently, Cheralyn has just finished a long stint with Paramount Production Services, where she created props and costumes for such attractions as Titanic: The Movie on Tour, the Star Trek Earth Tour, and Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton.  Her latest projects include the TV mini-series Shake, Rattle and Roll, and lastly, work as both a costume crafts technician and an extra in Mel Gibson's The Patriot.


Mary-Tabitha Lumsden
Star Trek Nemesis: The Verdict
Mary-Tabitha is a college junior majoring in biotechnology with ambitions to work in an animal-centered facility (i.e., veterinarian) or as a forensic investigator for the FBI.  A long time Trekker, she discovered the universe of Star Trek through the Original Series logbooks at the tender age of 10 and has since developed the same fascination for all five series and books.
        Vulcans are her favorite species and she has dearly wished that she could get Scotty to cause a cross-universe transport of a sehlat cub for her very own.  When not involved with reading Star Trek books or debating with her brother (self-appointed Klingon expert of the house), she can be seen with her cat Pippin engrossed in the Lord of the Rings and Redwall series and listening to Anne McCaffrey's Masterharper of Pern CD.

Chase Masterson
Beyond the Dabo Girl: An Hour with Chase Masterson
Chase Masterson is best known for her breakout role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, one of the highest-rated internationally syndicated shows of all time.  Chase's huge international fan base saw her rise from a four-line role as Leeta, the Dabo Girl in one episode to a five-year, 17-episode story arc, at which point USA Networks brought Chase on to host her own newsmagazine talk show on the Sci-Fi Channel.  TV Guide Online Readers' Poll voted Chase the #1 favorite science fiction actress on television, and Sci-Fi Universe Magazine honored Chase as one of the top 20 people to watch in Hollywood.
        In the Sci-Fi Channel's upcoming feature, Terminal Invasion, Chase stars opposite Bruce Campbell as "alpha female" pilot Catherine Garrett.  Other upcoming feature work includes Inhuman, a dark, Hitchcockian thriller in which Chase stars as ex-Dr. Kat McKenna.
        And catch Chase currently hosting Sci-Fi Digital, the teasing, irreverent, but always in-the-know Internet genre newsmagazine. Sci-Fi Digital. You've been warned.
        Chase is often recognized from her recurring work on General Hospital and as the featured guest star in the Emmy Award-winning episode of ER.  In other television work, Chase caught UPN's eye with her recurring role on Live Shot, and entertained Saturday night viewers with comedic banter as the host of Showtime Nighttime.  Guest star credits include Sliders, a recurring guest role on Sci-Fi Vortex, and others, including co-host of NBC Saturday Night at the Movies.
        On the big screen, Chase starred as Commanding Officer Callie O'Grady in Stephen King's thriller, Frozen, with Faith Ford, and as the title role of Marina, with Bridget Wilson.  Chase made her feature film debut opposite Maxwell Caulfield in In a Moment of Passion, and was also the lead in Married People, Single Sex, as well as a brief role as Richard Lewis' girlfriend in Mel Brooks' Robin Hood, Men in Tights.  Chase did a supporting turn with her lighthearted portrayal of a woman in labor in Porchlight's Lightning, and had a cameo in the upcoming British feature, Advanced Warrior, the first fully interactive film.  Other feature film credits include leads in Digital Man and Sammyville, a reality-based thriller in which Chase stars as a driven child protective services worker, and which was featured on 60 Minutes II.
        Best of all, "Chase Masterson" was recently the answer to a question on Jeopardy!  ChaseMasterson.com currently gets about 10,000 hits per day.
        Chase Masterson's current and future projects have been publicized in international print, as well as on worldwide, national and local TV and radio networks, including E!, Bravo, Good Morning America, Montel, CNN, CNBC, Starz, The Sundance Channel, Canada's Space: The Imagination Station and Britain's Sky1.
        This is Chase's third appearance on TrekTrak.

Janet Nemecek
Star Trek: Voyager's "Prophecy": What Didn't Happen
Life has been many things for Janet, but after a break from being a Star Trek "pro," she is once again a fan -- and still enjoys sharing her thoughts on writing and what's up the Trek behemoth.  The native of Shawnee, Oklahoma, worked as a mom and housekeeper before becoming a business graduate and executive assistant by the early '90s -- and then came her long run as the assistant script coordinator on Star Trek: Voyager.
        After she and her husband Larry moved from central Oklahoma to the Los Angeles area in 1994, she landed the temp job for seven weeks in the Voyager family and won the job outright when it became open.  Soon after several workshops, seminars and classes in writing, she and Larry sold a story to Voyager which was finally produced and updated in the series' final season, "Prophecy."
        After working as an executive assistant in downtown Los Angeles, Janet is now taking a break to update the household and see the kids through their last years of school.  She also enjoys cooking, gardening, woodworking, remodeling and travel (especially passenger trains!).

Larry Nemecek
TrekTrak Presents: Behind the Scenes with Larry Nemecek
Star Trek: Voyager's "Prophecy": What Didn't Happen
Star Trek Nemesis: The Verdict
Enterprise: The Verdict
You may know Larry best these days as editor of Communicator, the officially licensed U.S. Fan Club's magazine (also reprinted in a German translation).  Or maybe as author of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion or a contributor to other projects.  But talking to fans at conventions with his annual behind-the-scenes shows is still the most fun for the one-time Oklahoma journalist in the Star Trek world.
        The original Companion from Pocket Books in 1992, one of the first two non-fiction books on the later series, was recently revised and updated through Star Trek: Nemesis.  Other credits include co-writing 1996's The Making of Star Trek: First Contact from Titan Books of the U.K., consulting on the new Star Trek Star Maps from Pocket, and continuing his regular Q&A column with fans into its fifth year for Britain's Star Trek Monthly.
        Online, he helped create Paramount's record-breaking Star Trek: First Contact web site content, and served as contributing editor for the official Star Trek site, now startrek.com, writing much of its original database.  Look for his own site soon, finally under construction at www.mystarpress.com.
       
Meanwhile, he has consulted and written display materials for the museum of Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas, while Europe's Star Trek World Tour and Federation Science tour revival use his writings and research.  His works have also appeared in the Starlog magazine family and Sci-Fi Universe.
        It was Larry's annual, self-published Next Generation concordances that won him the Companion contract and a role as research consultant for Pocket's first-edition Star Trek Encyclopedia.  Since then, he and his wife Janet have spoken to fans at events in the U.S., Canada, England, France, Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany.  Together in 1994, they sold a story to Star Trek: Voyager which became the episode "Prophecy" when it was finally produced seven years later.  Oklahoma City's ThunderCon charity fan conventions of the 1990s were founded by Larry, as well as parts of the fan-produced USS Enterprise Officer's Manual and Bantam Books' Star Trek Maps.  He is a volunteer docent at the Will Rogers House State Historic Park, honoring his hero, and still enjoys keyboards, theatre and his gridiron OU Sooners.  The one hobby now is finding time for any of them -- much less his family.


Darren Nowell
The Missing Minority
Darren has been around Atlanta fandom since 1985.  After doing several tours of duty with Dixie-Trek and Starfleet Atlanta, he took a break to do something called college.  He studied theatre and philosophy and is now a devil's advocate for everyone but Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and Fred Phelps.  His greatest Star Trek moment was being both slapped and kissed by Marina Sirtis at MOC #3 (or was it #2?) after asking her to take off her jacket to reveal her skimpy top.  (Little did she know she had nothing to fear but a fashion critique.)  He is also a founding member of the Save a Sweater...Kill Wesley Crusher fan club and a member of the Atlanta Outworlders, which espouses more gay/lesbian/trans/bi content in science fiction and fantasy.  Not surprisingly, he is currently single and has a super hero fetish.  This is his second appearance on TrekTrak.


Susan SackettSusan Sackett
Inside Star Trek with Susan Sackett

Susan Sackett grew up in Connecticut and Florida and received both her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Education degrees from the University of Florida in Gainesville (1964; 1965).  After teaching elementary school in Miami for two years, she moved to Los Angeles, where she taught for a short time.  But her lifelong dream of working in Hollywood persisted, and she quit her teaching job to work in the entertainment industry.  She spent the next four years with the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) as a publicity assistant and commercial coordinator.
        In August 1974, she began an association with Gene Roddenberry, creator of the television legend Star Trek, serving as his personal executive assistant for over 17 years until his death in October 1991.  She also served as his production assistant on the first Star Trek film and worked closely with him on the next five Star Trek movies.  In addition, she served as Production Associate during the first five seasons of the television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Susan and her writing partner, Fred Bronson, sold several stories and a teleplay to that series, including the popular episodes "Ménage à Troi" and "The Game."  Susan and Fred have also sold stories to the series, Sliders, and continue to work together as television writing partners.

        While working full-time as Roddenberry's assistant, Susan managed to write three books about Star TrekLetters to "Star Trek" (Ballantine Books, 1977); "Star Trek" Speaks! (with co-authors Fred and Stan Goldstein, Pocket Books, 1979), and The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, with co-author Gene Roddenberry, Pocket Books, 1980).

        In 1982, she published her fourth book relating to the film and television industry, with co-author Cheryl Blythe: You Can Be a Game Show Contestant and Win! (Dell Books).  (And following her own advice, in 1986 Susan went on Jeopardy! and won $10,000 in cash and prizes.)  Another book co-authored with Cheryl Blythe was Say Goodnight, Gracie! -- The Story of Burns and Allen (E. P. Dutton, 1986; paperback edition, Prima Publishing, 1989).  Following that came The Hollywood Reporter Book of Box Office Hits (Billboard Publications, 1990).  Another book, "Star Trek": The First 25 Years, co-authored with Gene Roddenberry, was purchased by Pocket Books, although not published due to the publisher's legal entanglements.  Instead, it became the basis of the 1994 book, "Star Trek": 'Where No One Has Gone Before': A History in Pictures, by J. M. Dillard.  In the Fall of 1993, Billboard Books published Prime-Time Hits; a third Billboard book (and Susan's ninth), Hollywood Sings!, was released in 1995.  In 1996, the revised second edition of The Hollywood Reporter Book of Box Office Hits was published. Inside Trek: My Secret Life with Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry (Hawk Publishing Group, 2002) brings her total to eleven published books.

        When not writing, Susan's other interests include Humanist activism; wildlife conservation and animal rights; traveling; hiking; showing dogs; SCUBA diving, and photography.  She is a member of MENSA (the high IQ society), ATAS (Academy of Television Arts and Sciences), NWU (the National Writers Union) and WGA (Writers Guild of America, West, Inc.). 

        In 1994, after 26 years as a Californian, she moved to Arizona, where she enjoys the "dry heat."  She shares her home with her two dogs, a Shiloh Shepherd and a Golden Retriever.

Tonya Spanks
Starfleet Kitchen
Tonya was born exactly two months before the airing of the first episode of the original Star Trek series.  Her mother says that when the TV was on, it was the only thing that would make her focus on the TV, earning her the nickname of "TrekBaby."  Tonya has been a member of StarFleet and the USS Republic for nine years and now holds the rank of Fleet Captain.  She has been named, among her StarFleet friends, "Queen of the Pies" and, by those who have sampled her Romulan Ale and various other wares, Region Mixologist.  Tonya has earned first place in various baking competitions and for the past three years, she has also prepared her cakes for the Green Room at Dragon*Con.


Arne Starr
Enterprise: The Verdict

       Arne has been a top illustrator for nearly twenty-five years, having worked with many major companies on advertising and product illustrations over that time, but he's probably best known for being the longest-running artist on Star Trek comics (translation: he's done more Trek-related comic books than any other artist---ever).  Mostly done for DC Comics as an ink artist, he has worked on just about every major character at the company as well.  He had some uncredited co-inking credits on Crisis on Infinite Earths featuring the death of Supergirl and the Flash, and also on Booster Gold and Batman, but followed those with credited stints on Power Girl, Green Lantern in Action Comics, Legion of Super-Heroes, Unknown Soldier, Firestorm and the original first-ever mini-series of Star Trek: The Next Generation, plus many, many more.  He also worked at other companies, working on Nexus and Deep Space Nine and also Spider-Man at Marvel.
        He has became a regular guest at Star Trek and media conventions, and with help from the his Hollywood connections, largely his friend Jeff Walker and the major studios adding to it, he does a two-hour plus show with all the latest teasers and trailers and some behind-the-scenes pieces, too.  (And he usually brings all those neat giveaway buttons and shirts, too.)  He also does many science fiction radio shows promoting the latest films, and has even co-hosted QVC's Trek show in the past.
        The Hollywood connection pretty much came from his time as Sysop (SYStem OPerator) of the Science Fiction Media Roundtable (SFRT2) on the GEnie Computer Network for more than a decade, and from his numerous convention appearances over the last fourteen years or so.
        And still another item that has come out of all of this is Arne as actor.  He was noticed by the late Mark "Sarek" Lenard, and brought into his Masters Acting Class in New York.  In the first year Arne began auditioning, he ended up working in six different plays, including the lead in Sunshine Boys, stand-in lead Anatoly in the musical Chess, the bellhop in Lend Me a Tenor, and other roles in Arsenic and Old Lace and Singing in the Rain, as well as a few different parts in showcases from Mark's studio.  Most recently, he played the leads in the Neil Simon play I Ought to Be in Pictures, the play Social Security and Speed in The Odd Couple.
        Currently, Arne is continuing to show up at conventions up and down the East Coast with his giveaways and trailers, and is also currently working on the independent comic, The Black Tiger.


Brad Strickland
YouthTrack and TrekTrak Present: Starfleet Academy Author Brad Strickland
Brad Strickland has written or cowritten nearly sixty novels and about a hundred shorter works.  Many of his novels are for younger readers, including When Mack Came Back (Dial, 2000), an award-winning historical novel, and the Pirate Hunter series, cowritten with the late Thomas E. Fuller.  With Thomas, Brad also cowrote ten books in several series about Wishbone, public TV's literature-loving Jack Russell terrier.  With his wife Barbara, Brad has also written novels in the Star Trek, Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Sabrina, the Teen-Age Witch series.  Younger Star Trek fans will be familiar with Brad's five Young Adult novels, including Deep Space Nine: Stowaways (Minstrel Books, 1994), Deep Space Nine: The Star Ghost (Aladdin Library, 1994), The Next Generation: Starfall (Aladdin Library, 1995), The Next Generation: Nova Command (Minstrel Books, 1995) and Star Trek: Crisis on Vulcan (Minstrel Books, 1996).
     Twice, Brad has been named the Georgia Author of the Year for young readers.  Most recently, Brad has begun work on Mars: Year One, an original science fiction series for Simon & Schuster that he planned with Thomas E. Fuller.
     When not writing, Brad is a Professor of English at Gainesville College.  He and Barbara have two grown children, Amy (whom you may remember as Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter) and Jonathan (writer/editor by day and actor by night), and a daughter-in-law, Rebecca, who is a tireless behind-the-scenes worker for the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company.


Brian Sussman
Enterprise: The Verdict
Starfleet Kitchen
Brian is currently the head of the Atlanta Starfleet International chapter USS Republic NCC-1371.  Brian has been a Star Trek fan since the original series and attended one of the first Star Trek conventions in New York in the Seventies.  Brian and his friends would make 8mm movies continuing the adventures of Kirk and Spock during his youth.  Later in life, Brian joined the USS Integrity out of New Jersey and was their Chief of Engineering.  Later, he performed the same duties for the USS Tempest.  He has attended and chaired panels for several conventions in New Jersey.  Star Trek is one of Brian's favorite series, although he considers himself a well-rounded science fiction enthusiast, enjoying such fare as Babylon 5, Dr. Who (he was also a member of the Prydonians of Princeton), Firefly, Andromeda, etc.  However, being that he spent 48 hours to get to the 30th anniversary convention for Star Trek in Huntsville, Alabama, we know what is closest to his heart.

George TakeiGeorge Takei
TrekTrak Presents: An Hour with George Takei
TrekTrak Presents: Another Hour with George Takei
The 2003 Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant
George Takei, best known for his portrayal of Mr. Sulu in the acclaimed television and film series Star Trek, has more than thirty feature films and hundreds of television guest-starring roles to his credit.
        Recognized worldwide as a member of the original Star Trek cast, George received a star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame in 1986 and he placed his signature and handprint in the forecourt of the landmark Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood in 1991.
        Among his credits is a music industry accolade -- a 1987 Grammy nomination in the "Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording" category.  George's distinctive voice is featured in Walt Disney Pictures' full-length animated feature, Mulan (and the upcoming Mulan II), Star Trek audio novel recordings, Fox Television's The Simpsons, Futurama, and in numerous voice-overs and narrations.
        A community activist, George serves on the board of governors of East West Players, the nation's foremost Asian Pacific American theater.  He is chairman of the board of trustees of the Japanese American National Museum and on the advisory committee of the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.
        George's acting career has spanned four decades.  It began in the summer between his freshman and sophomore years at the University of California at Berkeley, when George answered a newspaper advertisement placed by a company casting voices for a motion picture.  The film was Rodan, a Japanese science-fiction classic about a prehistoric creature terrorizing Tokyo.  In a sound stage on the MGM lot in Culver City, Calif., George dubbed the original Japanese lines into English, creating distinct voices for eight characters.
        George's professional acting debut occurred on live television in the pioneering drama series, Playhouse 90.  His motion picture debut was in Ice Palace starring Richard Burton, released by Warner Bros. in 1959.  Films include six Star Trek motion pictures (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek: The Motion Picture), The Green Berets, Majority of One, Noon Blue Apples, Who Gets the House?, Mulan, Trekkies, The Best Bad Thing, Patient 14, Chongbal aka Vanished, Live by the Fist, Bug Busters, Kissinger and Nixon, Prisoners of the Sun, Return From the River Kwai, Red Line 7000, Never So Few, Walk Don't Run, An American Dream, P.T. 109, Oblivion, The Loudmouth, Which Way to the Front?, Bicycle Built for Three and Hell to Eternity.
        In addition to his role in the original Star Trek series, television roles include guest-starring appearances on 3rd Rock From the Sun, Murder She Wrote, Watching Ellie, Grosse Pointe, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder, In the House, John Woo's Once a Thief, Homeboys in Outer Space, Muppets Tonight, Brotherly Love, Mission: Impossible, Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Miami Vice, I Spy, Son of the Beach, Marcus Welby, M.D., Hawaiian Eye, Hawaii Five-O, Ironside, Kung Fu, Mr. Novak, Mr. Roberts, The Six Million Dollar Man, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Wackiest Ship in the Army, Death Valley Days, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Bracken's World, Combat, Chico and the Man, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, MacGyver, Californians, Chrysler Theatre, U.S. Steel Hour, My Three Sons and many others.
        George is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (presenter of the Academy Awards), and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (the Emmy Awards).
        George's theatrical credits include Undertow, winner of the Scotsman First Award at the Edinburgh Festival, and The Wash, written by Philip Kan Gotanda and presented in New York at the Manhattan Theater Club and in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum.  He performed in Year of the Dragon at the American Place Theater in New York and in Fly Blackbird at the Billy Rose Theater in New York and the Metro Theater in Los Angeles.  George played in a musical version of Snow White at the Dome Theater in Brighton, England, and was the genie in Aladdin at the Hexagon Theatre in Reading, England.  In June 2002, George appeared in The Human Race Theatre Company concert production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures at the Loft Theatre in Dayton, Ohio.
        George is grateful for his association with Star Trek, TV's quintessential sci-fi show, and the character he portrays, Hikaru Sulu.  Originally helmsman of the starship USS Enterprise, Mr. Sulu was promoted to captain of USS Excelsior in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, released in 1991.  George reprised his Captain Sulu role in a Star Trek: Voyager episode entitled "Flashback" in 1996.
        George's talents also extend to writing; he wrote a science-fiction novel, Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe.
        As told in his autobiography, To the Stars, published by Pocket Books in 1994, George was born in Los Angeles, California.  With the outbreak of World War II, he and his family, along with 120,000 other Japanese Americans, were placed behind the barbed-wire enclosures of United States internment camps.  George spent most of his childhood at Camp Rohwer in the swamps of Arkansas and at wind-swept Camp Tule Lake in northern California.
        George's family eventually returned to his native Los Angeles, which shaped his acting career.  The motion picture studios -- their magical back lot sets visible behind tall fences -- were alluring presences.  Every grammar school skit, junior high drama club, and high school play became a stepping stone to realizing his not-so-secret dream of becoming an actor.
        After graduating from Los Angeles High School, George enrolled in the University of California at Berkeley.  Later, he transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles, where he received a bachelor of arts in theater in 1960 and a master of arts in theater in 1964.  He attended the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-Upon-Avon in England and Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.  In Hollywood, he studied acting at the Desilu Workshop.
        In addition to his acting career, George always has been extremely involved in civic affairs.  Along with actress Beulah Quo, George produced and hosted a public affairs show, Expression East/West, which aired on KNBC-TV in Los Angeles from 1971 to 1973.
        Always a political activist, George ran for the Los Angeles City Council in 1973, losing by a small percentage.  At a crossroads, he had to decide whether to pursue a political career or an acting career.  He decided on acting, but to remain involved in civic affairs to whatever extent he could.
        George was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley to the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, serving from 1973 to 1984.  George was one of the driving forces behind the Arts in Transit program, in which every Metro Rail subway station is given its own distinctive look, thereby fostering neighborhood pride.  He also served as a vice president of the American Public Transit Association.
        George is a past chairman of El Pueblo Park Association and former president of Friends of Little Tokyo Arts, an organization that encourages and supports artists. He was appointed by President Clinton to the board of the Japan-United States Friendship Commission, where he served two terms.
        A resident of Los Angeles, George is a dedicated long-distance runner since his high school cross-country team days.  He has completed five 26.2-mile marathons and carried the Olympic Flame in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Torch Relay.


Carla Ulbrich
The TrekTrak Filksing
     A fan favorite on the long-running, nationally syndicated Dr. Demento Show, award-winning songwriter and Professional Smart Aleck Carla Ulbrich has been compared to the likes of Ray Stevens, Christine Lavin, Jerry Seinfeld, Chet Atkins and Jewel.  As for the guy who compared Carla to Jewel... he had been drinking heavily.
     Originally from South Carolina, Carla is currently based in South Florida (although she spends more time in the van than anywhere else).  Carla brings a mix of humor, poignancy and nifty guitar playing to the stage.  She began playing guitar at the age of nine, joined the school band at 12 and played a different instrument every year in band: flute, clarinet, piccolo, xylophone and sousaphone -- a marching tuba.  Once in a while an obliging friend lets her sit in on a song or two with her tuba during a concert.
     Carla started playing the piano and writing songs in high school, eventually finding her way back to the guitar in college, where she earned a BA in Music (classical guitar).  She made her singing debut at a pig pickin' on Spring Break in college and has so far released two CDs on her own label: Her Fabulous Debut (1999) and Professional Smart Aleck (2003).
     Carla's live shows and CDs have earned her amazing reviews and spiffy songwriting awards: Best Upbeat and Best Overall; 1999 South Florida Folk Fest's Song Competition; first place, 2000 and 1998, Mid-Atlantic Song Contest; second place, 1998, Chris Austin Songwriting Contest; second place, Gamble Rogers Folk Fest's Fingerpicking contest; grants from the SC Arts Commission and Jim Beam to help fund recordings; and endorsements from Takamine and John Pearse Strings.
     Carla has taught guitar at several colleges, Hummingbird Music Camp, and the National Guitar Workshop.  After a year of fighting back from a health crisis, she is back to touring relentlessly all over the country.  She has appeared on numerous radio stations as well as USA's Up All Night, and has shared the bill with such luminaries as Cheryl Wheeler and Twiggy the Water Skiing Squirrel.  Carla Ulbrich is a member of ASCAP and President of the Difficult Last Name Club, likes cheese, and collects bottlecaps.

Eric L. Watts
The 2003 Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant
Eric has been an avid Star Trek fan since 1977.  He founded and was President of the United Federation of Trekkers, South Carolina's largest Star Trek fan club, from 1980 to 1988 and has been Dragon*Con's Director of Star Trek Programming since 1992.
    
Eric is a charter member of Southern Bears and was the Editor & Publisher of The New Moon Directory, an annual index to amateur press associations from 1988 to 1997.  He has been a member of the amateur press association Imaginapa (currently on publication hiatus) since 1980 and was its elected Central Mailer for 14 of the past 23 years.  He is a former member of the amateur press associations Apa Enterprise, Talking of Trek, GAPS, Atlapa and Dragon*Citings.
     Professionally, Eric holds Associate in Arts degrees in Visual Communications (1990) and Web Site Administration (1999) from the Art Institute of Atlanta and owns his own graphic and web site design business, ELW Graphix.  He is the technical designer for Soundly Speaking, the monthly online newsletter of NSA Georgia (the Georgia chapter of the National Speakers Association), and also the Editor of Survival News, the monthly newsletter of AIDS Survival Project, headquartered in Atlanta.
     Eric started performing stand-up comedy in 2000 and has performed at The Comedy House in Kennesaw, Eddie's Attic in Decatur and The Kudzoo Cantina in Bowdon.  In May 2000, he placed as a finalist in WB36's Late Nite Laff-Off competition at Dave & Buster's in Duluth, and was a featured performer at Eddie's Attic's Third Annual Gay Comedy Festival in June 2001.

Armstrong · Balder · Berman · Carter · Crispin · David · Dourif · Fitts · Hertzler · Jones · Kilpatrick · Koenig · Lambeth · Lumsden · Masterson · Nemecek J. · Nemecek L. · Nowell · Sackett · Starr · Strickland · Spanks · Sussman · Takei · Ulbrich · Watts---HOME  ||  TREKTRAK VIDEOS  ||  TREKTRAK PHOTO ALBUM---


Copyright © 1999-2008 Eric L. Watts.  All Rights Reserved.  www.TrekTrak.com is hosted by Server Systems.