When I talked to my mom on Sunday morning, she asked me how the Hall of Fame induction went.
"Good," I said. "It was better than I could have hoped."
"Will you write about it, so your dad and I can experience what it was like to be there?"
I smiled. I love it that she asked me to do that.
Mom, this week's Geek in Review is for you:
I've given plenty of speeches before, in front of crowds as large as 5,000, in places as varied as a Holiday Inn convention hall to the Royal Albert Hall in London, but this speech was the most personally important speech I have ever been asked to give. Not only was I given the privilege of presenting Gene's induction, but it would be accepted by Gene's son, and my friend, Eugene Roddenberry, Junior. Rod, as he is known to his friends, has spent the bulk of his adult life getting to know his father. Gene died when Rod and I were still teenagers, and there was a vast generation gap between Rod and Gene. I've always admired Rod. He could easily sit back and cash checks from Paramount while drinking Courvoisier from the hollowed-out skulls of the vanquished, but instead he has worked tirelessly to honor and preserve Gene's legacy. Rod, like his father, appreciates and embraces the legion of Trekkies around the world who are such an integral part of what Rod calls "The Trek Nation." We are, in many ways, spiritual half-brothers who genuinely like each other, but only cross paths once or twice a year.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my editor, Andrew, who kept me focused and out of my own way while I worked on putting my speech together, and suggested ways saying many of the things that were really important to me to say just right. I felt like the whole thing hit every note I wanted to hit, which wouldn't have been possible without his help.
I'd love if it you'd Digg it, or vote for my story at Netscape. (Er, all of you. Not just my mom, who doesn't use any social news sites, as far as I know.)
