2008 - 05/2008 Meeting
Page Created: 09/16/10. Last Updated: 11/01/10. Last Google Group Page Update: 06/02/08.
JAMES BRODERICK
Books:
The Literary Galaxy of STAR TREK
Paging New Jersey: A Literary Guide to the Garden State
Books (with Darren Miller):
Consider the Source: A Critical Guide to Prominent News and Information Information Sites on the Web
Web of Conspiracy: A Guide to Conspiracy Theory Websites on the Internet (forthcoming)
The Broderick/Miller Website is: http://www.thereporterswell.com/.
MEETING SUMMARY:
Meeting Date: May 10, 2008.
Meeting Site: Saddle River Valley Cultural Center, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Official Attendance: 15.
Meeting Program: Talk by Non Fiction Writer.
Notes:
Meeting Memories:
Newsletter Account:
The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP LOCAL Copyright 2008 Philip J De Parto:
The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County met at the Saddle River Valley Cultural Center on Saturday, May 10, 2008. The meeting featured a talk by non fiction writer James Broderick.
Our Animation Associates watched DEVIL MAY CRY and other short features. The Ice Nine discussion included everything from the nominees of the Nebula Awards to old Marvel Super Heroes TV Show Songs, with selected singing by Barry Weinberger.
James Broderick is the author or co author of four books: THE LITERARY GALAXY OF STAR TREK; PAGING NEW JERSEY: A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE GARDEN STATE; CONSIDER THE SOURCE: A CRITICAL GUIDE TO PROMINENT NEWS AND INFORMATION SITES ON THE WEB; and WEB OF CONSPIRACY: A GUIDE TO CONSPIRACY THEORY SITES ON THE INTERNET.
Although Mr Broderick has written a book about STAR TREK, he came to do it in a roundabout way. He was never a fan of the show growing up in the Midwest. He had only the most nodding exposure to the series while in college at Indiana State University in Terra Haute.
He went to work as a newspaper reporter in Chicago and met his wife, also a reporter. She answered a blind ad from THE JERSEY JOURNAL, and the two decided to go East. Although he picked up a bit of freelance work as a reporter, he got a job teaching English in the Jersey City High School System.
It was an awful experience. Jim was an eager young lover of literature who couldn't wait to share his enthusiasm with his students. His class, unfortunately, could care less. He found it disheartening. He said it was like talking to a jury.
One of the more experienced instructors advised him to find a way to make the subject relevant to the students. Mr Broderick began to research American Men of Letters and was surprised to learn how many had a connection to the Garden State. Some of these, like William Carlos Williams, are generally known to be Jersey Boys, but many others, like Walt Whitman, also spent years in the state or have other connections to it. He stated that New Jersey is actually the cradle of the American Literary Pantheon.
Mr Broderick later received a position at New Jersey City University (formerly Jersey City State) in Jersey City. It was now publish or perish time. He inquired with Rutgers University Press and discovered that they had never published a book tracing the state's importance in American Literature. Thus was born FACING NEW JERSEY.
His next book focused on STAR TREK. Because he hated grading the wretched high school English papers, he would put them off until Sunday evening and grade them while listening to the TV Sports program. Because he was lazy, he left the set on for the next program, STAR TREK, THE NEXT GENERATION reruns. Mr Broderick was surprised to hear quotes from Shakespeare, Homer, Milton, Melville, and many other luminaries regularly in the show. He began keeping a journal of the literary references and allusions.
He evolved into a fan of the TREK universe. He noticed as he browsed the STAR TREK section of Barnes & Noble in Clifton, New Jersey that there were books dealing with STAR TREK and Philosophy and STAR TREK and Physics, but there was nothing about STAR TREK and literature. That journal became the basis of his second book.
Although there is some truth to characterizing Picard as a man of thought and Kirk as a man of action, Kirk quotes Milton while dispatching Khan and D H Lawrence when he sees the whales. James Joyce's ULYSSES was Picard's favorite book (Broderick identifies Homer's hero as the first hero to regularly outwit his opponents) and his bouts with Q are often excursions into Wonderland. The Picard/Data dialogues call to mind Hamlet's rumination of What Is Man? Janeway often Holodecks to 19th Century novels. The list goes on and on. The meeting was lots of fun with interesting digressions all over the place.