How are the Klingons and the Romulans related?
What is the meaning of I.D.I.C.?
To what address should I send my letter to Patrick Stewart?
For the answers to these and other Trek-related questions, many fans turn to the “Star Trek” Welcommittee.
For 21 years STW volunteers have answered countless queries from Trekkers around the globe.
“People write us with all sorts of questions, and we do our best to answer every one of them,” Shirley Maiewski, chairwoman of STW, says by phone from her home in Hatfield, Mass.
“We have about 65 volunteers scattered all over America and others in Australia, Japan, Canada, Brazil, France and England. After all, `Star Trek’ is an international phenomenon.”
The STW can also provide information on a variety of Trek-related subjects including how to start a fan club, promote a convention or publish a fan magazine.
“We have a member who’s a collectibles consultant,” says Maiewski, who at 73 is known to fans as “Grandma Trek.”
“We have a trivia expert, a pen-pal department, a personal-computer consultant and so on.”
The STW was formed in 1972 by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, a diehard fan, then run by two ensuing chairmen before Maiewski took over March 1977.
Maiewski, a mother of three and grandmother of six, says she was a sci-fi fan long before “Star Trek” hit the airwaves.
When Gene Roddenberry’s now-legendary creation debuted in 1966, she was hooked.
“`Star Trek’ presents a hope for a better future,” says Maiewski, who retired from her job as a book coordinator in the textbook annex at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1989.
“People are getting along with one another. `Trek’ also shows that just because someone is different, it doesn’t mean they’re evil.”
And what does Maiewski’s family think of her devotion to “Trek”?
“The grandchildren get a kick out of grandma,” she says, laughing. “My husband Philip isn’t really a fan, but he enjoys my enjoyment of it.”
To help defray its operating costs, the non-profit STW sells 10 different “Trek” patches licensed by Paramount (about $2 each), charges a nominal fee for its publications and requires fans to enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if they want a reply to questions or more details: Star Trek Welcommittee, P.O. Box 12, Saranac, Mich. 48881.
Trek specs
Patrick Stewart plays Loomis, the head bad guy, in “Gunmen,” which will be released Nov. 19 by Miramax Films. Stewart’s character hires Dennis Leary’s character to hunt down a Bulgarian smuggler (Christopher Lambert) and a New York hood (Mario Van Peebles) who have teamed up to search for a $400 million treasure in the Amazon. . . . On Nov. 10, Paramount Home Video will introduce a new Trek gift set. Called the “Starfleet Collection,” it will feature the six “Trek”-classic movies in the wide-screen format, a “Star Trek” watch, six Skybox trading cards, a certificate of authenticity and a futuristic collector’s case that can be unlocked only with a special card key. The “Starfleet Collection” will sell for $199.95 in the United States and $224.95 in Canada. Only 5,000 sets have been produced. All will be sold in video stores.
Trek TV preview
The following capsule previews are subject to last-minute changes.
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“Next Generation” (WPWR-Ch. 50, 6 p.m. Saturday: repeats 10:30 p.m. Sunday the following week): Patrick Stewart directed this week’s episode, “Phantasms,” which finds Data’s (Brent Spiner) first bad dream greatly affecting his fellow crew members. Highlights include Worf (Michael Dorn) eating a piece of cake in the form of Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) and a psychoanalytical session between Data and Sigmund Freud (Bernard Kates).
“Deep Space Nine” (WGN-Ch. 9, 6 p.m. Sunday; repeats 11:30 p.m. the following Sunday): In “Melora,” Bashir (Siddig El Fadil) falls for Melora Pazlar (Daphne Ashbrook), an Elaysian cartographer. While visiting DS9, where the forces of gravity are different from what they are on her planet, Pazlar must use a wheelchair and braces to keep from floating.
Con calendar
Places to trek to Nov. 6 & 7:
– Creation at the Park Plaza in New Haven, Conn., featuring Marina Sirtis. (Call 818-409-0960.)
– Creation at the Holiday Inn East in Jacksonville, Fla., featuring Jonathan Frakes. (818-409-0960)
TREK ALERT: If you have Trek news or trivia to share-or if you have questions relating to “Star Trek”-write to Ian Spelling, care of The New York Times Syndicate, 130 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10011. Be sure to enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you would like a reply.
NEXT WEEK: Helene Udy.