One of my earliest memories of any television show was watching an episode of the original Star Trek called, “Balance of Terror” co-starring Mark Lenard as the Romulan adversary to Captain Kirk. Of course, Lenard later went on to play Spock’s father, Sarek, as well as the Klingon Commander in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

For Star Trek fans such as myself, 2016 marks not one, not two, but three milestone anniversaries for the franchise.

On September 8, 1966, Star Trek took to the airwaves for three seasons.

On November 19, 1986, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was released to box office success.

On December 6, 1991, the final film starring the entire cast was released, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

I owe a lot to Star Trek, and many other SF and space opera films and shows. They inspired me to become a writer, beginning in fan fiction before exploring the strange new worlds and characters of my own creation. My love for, and wonder of, SF brought me to the convention scene over 30 years ago, where I’ve forged lifelong friendships with so many wonderful and talented people.

Now, as I attend the cons—sometimes as a writer guest, sometimes just going because I love the con scene—I’m excited to see Star Trek continuing to live long and prosper through new generations of fans.