Artwork by yours truly (1992), used for convention program cover.

We never could afford Shatner or Nimoy or Kelley. But we had all the rest... George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle NIchols, Grace Lee Whitney and James Doohan. And we also had hangers-on and fellow travelers like David Gerrold and Mark Lenard... I'm sure there were others that I can't recall right now.

I particularly remember James Doohan. In one of his talks, somebody asked him if it was true Scotty wouldn't drink anymore. And Doohan said, patting his coat pocket for effect, "I have a letter right here from Gene Roddenberry that says Scotty can drink whenever he damn well feels like it!" The audience applauded mightily.

After the convention, I drove Doohan to the airport. He obviously didn't want to talk about Star Trek, so it was kind of awkward at first. Then when I told him my dad was a motorhome dealer, he was very talkative the rest of the way. He kept asking me how you fixed this or that on a Winnebago... I thought it very ironic that one of the most famous 'engineers' in TV history hadn't a clue how to work on his own motorhome!

One of my favorite memories.

Definitely Down Memory Lane - great store. I think of it every Time I drive by where it was in OKC. And visited the Norman stores when I was attending college at OU in mod-80s. I don't remember Mad-Dog though. Bart still has Atomik Pop bookstore in Norman I think.

I'll be at OAF this year.