The website IO9 has posted a facsimile of letter Gene wrote to his   
   agent while they waited to hear if NBC would pick up "Star Trek".   
   (http://tinyurl.com/38yo4j8)  In the letter he talks about his vision   
   for the show and the frustrations of working in television in terms   
   that will sound very familiar to members of this newsgroup.  A number   
   of the feedback posts on IO9 note that the memo could almost have been   
   written by JMS.   Especially the part about how dumb it would be if   
   some exec suggested adding a dog or an 11 year old boy to the   
   crew.  ;-)   
      
   Anyway, I found it interesting as a bit of "Trek"-lore previously   
   unknown to me.  I also like how this copy of the letter is presented   
   in true Narn fashion, with coffee stains and all.  (I'm assuming those   
   are coffee stains, perhaps added by the recipient doing a spit-take.   
   Or maybe they're Gene's blood, since we all know that's what writers   
   use in place of ink.)  An easier to read version of the document   
   (along with a typescript for us old-timers) is available at the   
   "Letters of Note" web site, which originally displayed the letter.   
   (http://tinyurl.com/2fgoq88)   
      
   I'd be curious to know whose copy of the letter this is, how it came   
   to be on the internet, and what the letter on the top of page one   
   means.  (I'm assuming it isn't "F" for "fail".  :-)  "F" for "file"?)   
   It is clearly one of the two copies mailed out, since it is marked   
   "Rodennberry" for filing and it is signed, neither of which would been   
   true of Gene's own file copy.  Hard to tell if it is a carbon copy.   
   Inks fade and we're looking at an image of a document, not the   
   document itself. If it is the carbon, then it is Ted Ashley's copy, if   
   the original then it was sent to Alden Schwimmer. (No relation to   
   David of "Friends" AFAIK, in case anybody is wondering.)   
      
   Regards,   
      
   Joe   
   --- SBBSecho 2.12-Win32   
    * Origin: Time Warp of the Future BBS - Home of League 10 (1:14/400)