This is not a biography nor is it an autobiography. It is a unique kind of document.

It is Susan Sackett's story and it is the story of Gene Roddenberry's final days, showing the roots of those final events within the years of Star Trek The Motion Picture, and Star Trek: The Next Generation and the deepening and developing intimacy between Susan Sackett and Gene Roddenbery.

Susan Sackett has taken an odd point of view to tell this story of her position in the world of Star Trek. As a writer, I have to admire the tight, disciplined writing.

The story she tells is searingly gut-wrenching, harrowing and filled with anguish dotted with moments of joy and happiness.

It haunted (still haunts) me day and night for a number of reasons.

As primary author of the Bantam paperback Star Trek Lives! and a professional sf/f writer active through those years in Star Trek fandom, I was aware of these events but from an entirely different perspective. This book has filled in the blanks and answered many questions for me.

During the intervening years, I have likewise been aware of the private lives behind the scenes of several very famous and popular writers who ended their days enmeshed in very similar kinds of situations.

Reading this book awakened the feelings of watching such events from the sidelines, helpless to affect the course of things. It also brought home how very ordinary such an extraordinary situation is among the famous and powerful figures of this world.

Sackett's writing style is factual, the language prosaic, completely devoid of purple prose, hyperbole, or passion. And that showcases the realities of this happy/sad situation that surrounded Gene Roddenberry as he fought to give the millions of dedicated fans the show they so richly deserved.

The point of view is entirely Susan Sackett's. These are the events behind the miraculous achievements of Gene Roddenberry, and this is what it felt like to be involved inside those events, and this is the enormous price Roddenberry paid to give us this miracle.

Not once in this narrative is there any speculation, accusation or finger-pointing. There is no blaming, no "flaming" and no attempt to present the motives of others which Sackett could not possibly have known except as supposition through a veil of emotion.

This document is an amazing piece of work, a tour de force of the writer's craft and a bit of history that may one day prove invaluable to researchers if enough copies survive here and there. Put one away for your grandchildren today.

I can't tell you that every word is true. I can tell you that you will not find a more objectively written account of a purely subjective experience anywhere in your public library. Just for that achievement, this book should be studied by every would-be writer. And while you're studying this book, do tally up the price of fame and the cost of glory and ask yourself if you really do want to be a writer after all.

Live Long and Prosper,
Jacqueline Lichtenberg...

Susan Sackett's unique perspective brings new insight into Gene Roddenberry, the amazing creator of "Star Trek" who changed the face of filmed sci-fi forever. Their love story is touching and heartrending, and Susan's personal influence on Roddenberry's inventiveness has never before been revealed. Susan is a remarkable woman who has lived a one-of-a-kind life that's both fascinating and inspiring. I'd recommend this book to anyone who's ever seen "Star Trek" - or ever been in love.

The first story "Apache Caress" is wonderful. I had read it a few years back and then had to look through every short story romance collection to find it again. I loved the evil father who really was evil as well as the mystery of the mother. Belle is the best female character I ever read she is strong, brave and smart, and I adore Coyote, even Edwin the cousin was great. I wish this story was a full length book, as I did not want to leave these characters. The ending is beautiful.

If only this classic book were back in print-not only is it a biography of George & Gracie, but it has several pages of pictures(many never before seen)as well as an appendix in the back giving the synopsis of every television episode from October 1950 thru September 1958. The book is a good alternate to Gracie-A Love Story written by George himself. On another note, if I may go a step further, why doesn't Nick-At-Nite pick up the series, surely it's been in syndication for about 40 years? It'd be great fun seeing them again-George, Gracie, their son Ronnie, Blanche & Harry Morton, & Harry Von Zell. Though they are quite dated, these shows are still screamingly funny today. Gracie Allen was the 2nd funniest woman in television, the 1st being the incomparable Lucille Ball. Highly recommended, especially if you are able to find it!

Since Amazon didn't post an editorial review, here's the description from the back of the book to help you decide if this book is for you: "RELUCTANT BRIDE -- Sailing against her will to a faraway Pacific Island and forced into an arranged marriage to a missionary, lovely Alyssa Whitlock had only her dreams for comfort. Dreams of a handsome stranger who would rescue her and sweep her into his embrace. She certainly had no intention of surrendering to the passion-filled gaze of the ship's captain, handsome Jason Draper -- until a sudden storm marooned the two of them on a lush, uncharted island. Alyssa was utterly unprepared for the wave of passion that swept over her as she looked into Jason's deep blue eyes and felt the heat of his strong muscular body as he carried her ashore. And when he caressed her and whispered her name, Alyssa knew she could not help but yield the most secret treasures of her body in sweet, shocking abandon. PERSUASIVE LOVER -- Captain Jason Draper had mastered the turbulent South Pacific seas, and he certainly wasn't going to let a stubborn missionary miss disrupt his ship's routine or get the better of him! He'd get her to prot as quickly as possible -- and resist the forbidden temptations of her delicately-curved body and glorious golden hair. But when he saw the sweet fire in her innocent green eyes, felt her soft warm arms drawing him nearer, and tasted the oney of her lips, he was swept nearer, and tasted the honey of her lips, he was swept into the swirling, rapturous currents of a passion he could no longer deny ... or control."

While some of the shows in this book no longer exist the premise is still the same with almost all TV Game Shows. This book tells you how to get on and how to win. The logical suggestions can be applied to most any game show's concept. And, in the world of Game Shows (and TV in general), everything old is new again! Some of the game shows in this book will probably be back!

STAR TREK-A History In Pictures, is yet another book that examines the popular space saga and how it came to be, and where it's headed. However, unlike the various episode and movie guides that have been published over the years, this book concentrates more on Trek's stll photo record, as opposed to detailing every adventure in text form.

Having said that, there is still a fair amount of history outlined in the book, written by J.M. Dillard. It is a well written overview of the franchise. There are still plenty of interviews with, and remarks by the actors and creative staff behind all of shows and films. In fact key episodes, the films, and many of those responsible for its success over the years, are highlighted with special "sidebar" pages If you are inclined to follow all things TREK, many of the stories and facts will probably seem familiar to you...Still Dillard's style and love for the subject she writes about makes for a fun trip down memory lane for fans, while newcomers will be brought up to speed quite nicely

The photos in the book are well chosen, and as I said before, really set the book apart. Many of them have been published before, while others seemed "new" to me and quite rare. The 2nd edition, (released in 96) features an introduction from William Shatner (Captain Kirk from the original series) and is "updated" to include Star Trek Voyager's first two years and then some Since the last edition though, that series ended, along with Deep Space 9, another has premiered, and there's been some more films, I guess it's time for a 3rd edition. As a fan of this great pictorial, I would welcome it, for now this 239 page book (including appendices) is recommened and will have to do

This book aims to be a review of the series in pictures, and it does it very well. A lot of shots with great quality throughout the book makes it very enjoyable reading. An extensive reference for all series, even the animated ST:TOS. A lot of interesting behind-the-scenes information makes this book more then a bunch of pictures. Half of the book is on TOS, we also get a good section on DS9 (no Voyager, as it has been written in 1994). All and all, a great collection book for the Star Trek fan.

Letters to Star Trek, written by Gene Roddenberry's assistant Susan Sackett, gives us a great look into those exciting, hope filled days before all the movies and new series'. Read letters from loyal fans and friends of Star Trek, along with the replies from Gene Roddenberry and from the stars of the show. Get the behind the scenes scoop from Sackett on the future of Star Trek (from a 1977 perspective) and the phenomenal response at the fan conventions. It also contains a number of behind the scenes and convention photos of the stars. This book is a wonderful piece of Star Trek history!

Other than the pictures, this book wasn't great. The only interesting thing it does is rank the movies in order of box office success through the years(and the grosses for the films are WAY off!) If you want to find out anything about movies, buy anything written by Roger Ebert (I have all of them! One of his movie yearbooks would be a great choice) There are also fascinating facts about most of them movies that weren't even in the book.

I give Susan Sackett a lot of credit for doing the research for this book. She had to sit hrough a minimum of five movies for every year since 1939. Imagine! Some of the behind the scenes stuff is great, but her writing gets stale very fast, and you can't help but feel sorry for her having to come up with hundreds of different ways of saying the same things over and over. It's like a guy trying to write movie reviews for every Jackie Chan film out there (in one scene he kicked someone's butt, and then in the next scene he kicked someone else's butt ... zzzz). Still, there is no way you can deny Sackett's pension for details when it comes to such things as a film's box office take, Oscar nominations, and Oscar wins. It's worth the price for that alone. And, it's great to read about movies from long ago, some of which I never heard of (despite being a huge movies fan). The trivia you can cull from this book is priceless. Did you know that 1966's "Hawaii" was the lowest-grossing #1 movie ever, taking in only about $16 million? Things like that kept me interested enough to give Sackett a medium review of three stars.

If you are a young movie maniac person and want to see some of the old good movies than this is the book for you.