The Show Place

Joan Winston, co-writer of Star Trek Lives! and one of the founders of the first Star Trek convention, passed away in her sleep on September eleventh.

As reported by ComicM!x, Mark Milton, a relative of Winston's, posted the sad news to a Doctor Who mailing list. "I came home today to learn that Joan Winston, co-founder of the Star Trek conventions, author of Star Trek Lives! and The Making of the Trek Conventions as well as many other books and short stories, had passed away," said Milton. "As some of you know, she's my father-in-law's first cousin and I enjoyed her greatly. She was quite a gal."

Winston was one of the members of a group named "The Committee," who assembled the first Star Trek convention, held in 1972 in New York City. The idea for the convention began with a telephone call, according to Winston in Star Trek Lives!. "I never should have answered the telephone," said Winston. "If I had known what was going to happen, I would have told Ma Bell to pull it out by the roots." The call was from a Star Trek fan, proposing that Star Trek fans should have their own convention, where they could "talk about Star Trek as much as we liked, with no one to sneer."

The convention was wildly successful. A few hundred people were expected, but three thousand fans came to hear Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and science-fiction author Isaac Asimov speak.

After retiring from her work with conventions, Winston worked as a literary agent, and was an author. She continued to speak about her experiences in the early days of Star Trek fandom, assisting William Shatner with information for his book Get a Life!. Winston was also seen on Trekkies 2 the Star Trek fandom documentary by Denise Crosby.