FANDOM FRIDAY: Joan Marie Verba On Serving in the STAR TREK WELOMMITTEE and Writing a History of Fandom

Joan Marie Verba sports her homemade Starfleet uniform at a showing of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Hello! Welcome back to the second ever Fandom Friday, a column where I interview a fan of Daily Star Trek news to highlight the diversity and breadth of experiences within the Star Trek fandom. If you want to read my column from last month where I interviewed DSTN fan and meme master Mala Sasikumar you can click here.

This month I interviewed Joan Marie Verba. She is such an amazing and talented person with a whole breadth of skills from astronomy to writing. On top of all that she is also a massive Star Trek fan who is involved in so many fan activities I’m not sure how she has time to sleep! I actually knew about Joan before I interviewed her as I used her book Boldly Writing as research for the paper that inspired this column! So you have Joan to thank for this article today. 

I had such a great time getting to know Joan and I hope you do too!

---

DAILY STAR TREK NEWS: Tell us a bit about yourself and your life outside of Star Trek.

JOAN MARIE VERBA: I have a bachelor of physics degree and was an associate instructor of astronomy for one year. I’ve worked as a computer programmer, editor, and writer. I currently write and publish books, as well as build websites as a web developer. I am a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.

DSTN: How did you get into Star Trek?

JMV: I became interested in Star Trek in the summer of 1966, when NBC advertised it as one of its shows premiering in the fall. I have watched every single episode of every single series of Star Trek, plus all the movies. I love the concept of space exploration, the utopian society, the commentary that the episodes have on current events, and the philosophy of IDIC. 

DSTN: Has Star Trek impacted your life in any way? If so, how?

JMV: Star Trek has impacted my life in that it introduced me to fandom…not only Star Trek fandom, but general science fiction fandom. Tolkien fandom, and other specialized fandoms. Most of my friends and acquaintances have some connection to fandom. The experience has been exciting, exhilarating, and fun!

DSTN: If you have one, tell us a story that you have about Star Trek/being in the Star Trek fandom?

JMV: My best experiences with Star Trek have been the visits to the Star Trek sets. I was invited to watch filming on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and I was invited to the set of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Another experience I would add is that at my first convention (the Detroit Triple Fan Fair), I happened to walk into the same elevator as Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett. No one else was in the elevator, and I asked them for their autographs, which they graciously provided.

DSTN: Can you talk a bit about your book Boldly Writing? What is it? What was the process like writing it? How did you collect all that information?

JMV: Boldly Writing: A Trek Fan and Fanfiction History, 1967-1987, is a book that I wrote chronicling fan activity during those twenty years. I talked about all the fan efforts to revive Star Trek, the rise of Star Trek fanfiction, and the closeness of the Star Trek fan community. I used my own collection of Star Trek fanzines and fan newsletters to write the book, an effort which lasted about three years. (My collection has since been donated to the University of Iowa Special Collections.)

DSTN: Can you talk about the Star Trek Welcomittee? What did you do on it? What was it like being on the committee?

JMV: The Star Trek Welcommittee (STW) was founded in 1972. I joined in 1973, and was a member until  STW disbanded in 1997. The purpose of  STW (in the days before the internet) was to answer questions about Star Trek and to help with Star Trek revival efforts. STW published a directory of Star Trek fan clubs, fan publications, and books. It also published a monthly newsletter for several years which had the latest developments in Star Trek revival and Star Trek production. STW had a central mailroom which distributed letters from fans to STW members who would answer them. Every month, I would receive a packet of about 20 letters to answer. All this activity kept fans in touch with each other, and informed about Star Trek developments.

DSTN: What is your favorite Star Trek show and why?

JMV: Overall, my favorite series is Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I was on the staff of the official fan club of Alexander Siddig, who portrayed Dr. Julian Bashir in that series. My favorite season, however, would be the third season of Picard. “No Win Scenario,” in my opinion, is one of the most outstanding episodes of Star Trek, ever. In addition, I was a member (not on staff) of Sir Patrick Stewart’s fan club for many years.

DSTN: Anything else you would like to share?

JMV: In conclusion, I wish to echo a sentiment that I have heard when appearing on convention panels in recent years that all of Star Trek is worth watching. Many times I wish I could go back in time and reassure myself in 1970, after the original series was canceled, that Star Trek would expand in the 21st century beyond my wildest imagination, that I would live to see it, and that I would love it!

---

I hope you all enjoyed getting to know Joan as much as I did. She is truly an incredible fan and I’m so happy to have gotten to know a bit more about her. If you want to learn more about her you can visit her website here. And if you want to purchase her book, Boldly Writing: A Trek Fan and Fanfiction History, 1967-1987, boldly go over to Amazon to check it out!

If you want to be featured in our monthly Fandom Friday column, beam an email over to us at info@dailystartreknews.com and tell us why you think you should be included.