Farewell, Mr Jefferies

I just saw this obit, on the BBC of all places. Matt Jefferies as passed away.

On the wall above my desk at home I have a simple and elegant drawing. It's a piece of set design from Mr. Jefferies' note books. I much admire his work. A man who few knew his name, but virtually everyone on the planet who's been anywhere near a TV in the last 35 years has seen and been influenced by it.

And so, a little story.

I'm a fan of Star Trek, but a bit different than most you've met or imagined. I was the right age for it, born in 1960, but my parents weren't interested. I remember seeing only part of one episode during its original three year run ("The Tholian Web"). From where we lived, on the prairies of Southern Illinois, we didn't get it in syndication, even later. Soon, at age eleven, I was starting to read science fiction and discovered at a local book store a thin volume labeled "Star Trek 9". The ninth in a series of novelizations of the series by James Blish. I was hooked, instantly, and began saving my dimes and buying books as I could find them. Before long I new all of the stories by heart, never having see a complete one. I had a poster, a montage on my bedroom wall. My imagination filled in all the details with the rough out line of the pictures and the well-told stories.

I quickly moved on to read widely in science fiction and well beyond as well. But those early days of stories and imagined flights to the stars made me a fan forever. It aggravates me to read the fanboy sites and arguments about dogma and orthodoxy. I've never been to a convention, I won't argue with you the fine points of plots, characters, and technology. But my youngest daughter and I make sure to see every new episode of Enterprise, together.

In my dreams I sit on the bridge of the starship Enterprise truly go where no one has gone before.

Thank you, Matt Jefferies.