I owe my career to Star Trek. I was born in 1965 and in 1966 a T.V. show called Star Trek was on the air til 1969. It wasn't until syndication that I was old enough to appreciate the show and I also found out that my dad liked the show. So, like every little boy, I wanted to do whatever my dad liked to do and I watched reruns of Star Trek with my dad. Captain Kirk was my hero. He was always able to solve the problem with the help and guidance of his crew.
In 1975, the popularity of Star Trek was at an all time high because of reruns. Conventions were popping up all over the country.
One Saturday evening I was playing in the living room and my mom and dad called me into another room where they were watching the news on T.V. and there was a story about the Star Trek convention that was being held at the Conrad Hilton hotel in downtown Chicago that weekend. I walked into the room and watched, open mouthed, at the images of celebrities and writers from Star Trek making appearances and talking to all of the attendees at the convention. I stared at the screen and my dad immediately said "Don't get any ideas. We're not going to that!" I knew my dad hated traveling into the city and I sheepishly replied "I know. I know." I went back into the living room and resumed what I was doing and a couple of minutes later my mom called me back into the room. When I arrived, my dad looked at me and said "If we go to this thing tomorrow, we are getting up early to catch the train. If you aren't ready to go when I am, I’m going without you. Understand?" I was surprised and very excited. It seemed like an eternity till morning.
The next thing I remember is waking up at 4:00 AM scared that my dad had left without me. I quickly got dressed in my best Sunday outfit and then very gingerly peeked into my mom and dad's bedroom where, to my relief, they were both still asleep. I did this quietly because waking dad was another capital offense. I went into the living room and sat in the big easy chair and was trying desperately not to fall asleep for fear of being left behind. I must not have succeeded because I awoke in the chair with the shock of the realization that dad might have left. At that moment, I saw my dad coming out of the bedroom still in pajamas rubbing his eyes and he said good morning. It was now 7:00 AM. I was relieved but concerned because he told me we had to leave early to catch the train. He took his time showering, getting dressed and sitting down to a nice leisurely breakfast, all the while I was pestering him about the train and what time we to be at the station.
Finally, we arrived at the train station, purchased our tickets and waited for what was to be my first train ride to the city. I had been to the city before but never via commuter train. For a ten year old, trains are larger than life so this was an exciting day indeed. When we arrived in Chicago’s union station, we made our way up to the street level and into a taxi cab. This was also a first for me.
When we arrived at the Conrad Hilton hotel, the crowd was huge! We waited for the ballroom door to open and then there was a mad rush to get good seats as close to the stage as possible. The stage was also an unexpected surprise. It resembled the bridge of the enterprise and when each celebrity took their turn on stage, they sat in the captain's chair with microphone in hand told stories about what it was like to work on the show and answer questions from fans.
One by one, I got to see each actor and I was thrilled. The last celebrity to speak was Leonard Nimoy. I remember he was reading excerpts from his book "I am not Spock". I didn't really understand what he was talking about and my dad wanted to beat the crowd to the dealer's area so we left the ballroom.
The dealer's room had more Star Trek merchandise than I could ever imagined was possible to produce and collect in one room. T-shirts, photos, posters, toys, books, and endless array of consumer junk with the Star Trek name on it. My dad said I could have one souvenir. I carefully examined everything I had to choose from and finally fixated on a set of "Official" blueprints of the starship Enterprise. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Actual drawings, deck by deck, room by room, everything about the internal and external arrangement of the Enterprise just waiting for me to discover. I said "I want that!" My dad said "Are you sure?" I know it was expensive but it was my one choice. The set of drawings was five dollars. I guess a lot of money for a souvenir in 1975 but that's what I wanted and my dad bought it for me.
On the train ride home we examined the plans and located key locations like the bridge, the transporter room and sickbay. I was totally captivated and I spent a lot of time studying those drawings over the following years. I learned to read plans, elevations and sections from that set of drawings. I started learning about drafting in junior high school and by the time I was in high school, I wanted every drafting class I could get into. Yes, drafting and computer aided drafting is my life and I owe my career to Star Trek and a little set of plans. And yes, I still have them.
