We’re joined by Jacqueline Lichtenberg – creator of the Kraith fanfic series, author of Star Trek Lives!, and founder of the Star Trek Welcommittee – to discuss everything from her professional writing career to her thoughts on the future of Trek fan culture.
Download Now (right-click and save)
Hosts: Jarrah, Sue
Guest: Jacqueline Lichtenberg
Editor: Sue
References:
- National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F)
- Science Fiction Writers of America
- Sime~Gen Universe
- Strekfan Roster Questionnaire
- “Operation High Time” (Short Story)
Transcription: Grace
Felt just like the conversations we used to have in someone’s room at a come. Live long and prosper.
Sorry. Con, not come
It won’t let me “right-click and save.” Is it me, or is there a problem with the link?
I don’t see a problem with the link. It’s on the words “Download Now.”
Yep. Didn’t work for me (as it usually does). But never mind, as I managed to access it slightly differently.
The podcast was quite entertaining, to be sure. I still remember the first time I heard Jacqueline speak–at a convention panel in 1977 (about Kraith, of course). I have to say, she sounds just the same. 🙂
I first read Kraith, Collected, Vol. 1, some 46 years ago. It was *quite* the introduction–to ST fanzines and to Jacqueline. Here is how I have written about it online:
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Kraith, Collected Vol. 1 (first published 1972, Carol Lynn and Debbie Goldstein, eds.) was the first ST fiction fanzine I ever read. “Kraith” was a fannish series that was the focus of some controversy, originated by Jacqueline Lichtenberg and contributed to by over 50 other fans. It was Jacqueline’s vision of Vulcan, its people and culture, and it was a masterful job of world-building.
To quote Jacqueline from the “Author’s Foreword” in the Kraith Creator’s Manual, Vol. 1:
Kraith originally was conceived as a counter statement to the most prevalent type of fan fiction presentation of Vulcan. It seems that fans could not stretch their minds to see Vulcans in any other light than as anthropomorphic cripples deprived of ‘normal’ emotional outlets. True, that aired ST did leave this question open. They presented data, but in most cases did not interpret it for you. The obvious interpretation which Hollywood no doubt wanted us to make was the Vulcans were simply humans with exotic customs. However, if we view the TV screen as a window into an actual tomorrow and attempt to observe like good xenologists, we MUST NOT project our own human-centered concepts onto genuine aliens. Kraith attempts to point out several other valid interpretations of aired ST’s basic data.
Not everyone agreed with these interpretations, nor with Jacqueline’s ideas of Spock and Kirk and their place in the scheme of things. Kraith always was good for generating debate and was the subject of more than one convention discussion panel. Kraith always seemed to enjoy a love-hate relationship with fans—you either loved it or you hated it.
I loved it and hated it. Didn’t always agree with the direction the story (and characters) went, but I was fascinated (no pun intended) by the intricate universe that these authors created. I still pull my copies off the shelf every couple of years for a good ol’ “Kraith wallow.”
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Like any other good ST fan, I of course purchased Star Trek Lives! when it was published (still have my original copy, in fact, and reread it not so long ago, in a fit of nostalgia). I also purchased some of the Sime-Gen books and some of Jacqueline’s other works.
I note that Sime-Gen was one of the topics in this podcast, and it just so happens that I have ended up with extra copies of some issues of Ambrov Zeor. If you folks there are interested, you may have them. Just let me know. Otherwise I will be sending them on elsewhere.
Thanks again for another great “historical” fandom podcast!