Happy Birthday, Gene Roddenberry.

By John Freeman on August 19, 2023

Today would’ve been Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s 102nd birthday, author Dayton Ward notes on his blog.

“I would hope there are bright young people, growing up all the time, will bring to [Star Trek] levels and areas that were beyond me, and I don’t feel jealous about that at all,” Roddenberry said in 1988. “It’ll go on without any of us, and get better and better and better. That really is the human condition–to improve.”

“Thank you, Mr. Roddenberry,” said Dayton, “for giving us such a wonderful sandbox in which to play and dream.”
Happy Birthday, Gene Roddenberry.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.