One Trek Mind #46: Roddenberry... Beyond Star Trek

After the war, he was a pilot for Pan Am. On June 18, 1947, as the airline was inaugurating its “round the world” service, the engines of the “Clipper Eclipse” conked out, the aircraft caught fire and crashed in the Syrian desert. Roddenberry was third in command and sprang to action to aid many of the passengers. He spotted a light before the plane went down, and by contacting them was able to get word through for a rescue. (It involved, as highest-ranking surviving officer, sending someone on a night swim across the Euphrates River.) Certainly the “The Galileo Seven” and even the survivalist nature of “Arena” come to mind hearing this story.

Surely it's impossible to sum up the life of a giant like Roddenberry's in one quick essay. These were just some corners of his life that I found amusing and/or under-discussed. Tell me what you find inspiring about Gene in the comments below.

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Jordan Hoffman is a writer, critic and lapsed filmmaker living in New York City. His work can also be seen on Film.com, ScreenCrush and Badass Digest. On his BLOG, Jordan has reviewed all 727 Trek episodes and films, most of the comics and some of the novels.