Page Created: 09/25/10. Last Update: 10/25/10. Last Google Group Page Update: 05/17/08.
ADAM SCHRAGER
Book:
The Finest Crew in the Fleet: 'The Next Generation' Cast On-Screen and Off
MEETING SUMMARY:
Meeting Date: November 13, 1999.
Meeting Site: Saddle River Valley Cultural Center, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Official Attendance: 22.
Meeting Program: Talk by Non Fiction TREK Writer.
Notes:
Mr Shrager is also a former Bargain Books Buyer for Barnes & Noble Corporation.
Meeting Memories:
Newsletter Account:
The following account was reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 1999 Philip J De Parto
Adam Shrager, author of THE FINEST CREW IN THE FLEET, a book about the cast of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION was the featured speaker of the meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County on Saturday, November 13, 1999.
The author got the idea from seeing the plethora of biographies and autobiographies devoted to the members of the original cast: I AM NOT SPOCK, I AM NOT KIRK, I AM NOT THE RED SHIRT KILLED BY THE GORN. He reasoned that there might be a market for a book about the actors of the entire second STAR TREK series. He broke it down from a chapter devoted to each of the major characters (Patrick Stewart received the largest page count at 50) to a few pages for a recurring character. He deliberately gave a chapter to Wil Wheaton so that the Wesley Crusher haters could buy the book in order to burn it.
The project was essentially an unauthorized but sympathetic biography, and the amount of cooperation varied actor by actor. Brent Spiner have no cooperation (although he was not hostile to the project) while Leeta Alexander actively worked to get him access to the other actors.
He was aided in his investigations of Stewart's background by the Patrick Stewart Research Library in West Islip, New York. Yes, there are 43 Research Libraries in the United States, one for each of the presidents and one for Patrick Stewart. The library is housed in the basement of a woman in Long Island and is open to the public by appointment only.
Mr Shrager is recognized as an official STAR TREK expert by the United States Federal Court System. His testimony (with pointer and easel) of how another author could have calculated the birth date of James T Kirk without plagiarizing the STAR TREK ENCYCLOPEDIA is a matter of Judicial Record on Copyright Law.
Our guest revealed many interesting nuggets which he unearthed during his diggings. For example, Michael Dorn was on THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW as Sam, the Newsman for three seasons, typing away in the background behind Mary and Murray, seldom seen and almost never heard.
The meeting was a lot of fun, even if you were not a particularly big fan of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. If you missed Adam Shrager and ever have an opportunity to catch him at a bookstore or a convention, you will not be disappointed.
Our thanks to everyone who contributed to the operation and enjoyment of the meeting including, but not limited to, Charles Garofalo for the refreshments, Roy Greenberg for the brewed tea, Ellen Heine for the cake, Ken Lee for taking a bag of astronomy magazines home with him, Pamela Webber for much too much to list here, and Taras Wolansky for the YAWARA tape. (Maybe one of these days Phil will bring the right tape and we will actually get to watch FARSCAPE before the meeting.)