John Griffin Trimble: Thank You

Bjo Trimble left this comment on JerichoMonster's interview with her and I want to share it.

"Dear people: In my interview, I erred greatly in not including John Griffin Trimble as my full partner in getting the Save Star Trek campaign off the ground! We had 2 small children so it would have been impossible for me to do anything much without John's help. He has always been at my side in every crazy venture I've dragged people into. But the news media of the 60s wanted to focus on The Little Woman making waves, so they ignored John. This has always annoyed me because he deserves far more attention from Trekdom than fans know. This year will be our 48th wedding anniversary. -- Bjo Trimble

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To John Griffin Trimble:

Thank you for all your work in helping Bjo save Star Trek. It is an honor to recognize you here today. You are obviously a fine man and I applaud almost 48 years of marriage. I will not ask about Bjo's other "crazy" ventures. ( Unless you'd like to tell us. Ha.)

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"Trimble received the Big Heart Award in 1964, and (in her persona of Flavia Beatrice Carmigniani) the Society for Creative Anachronism's Order of the Laurel, an art award. Bjo and John are also both members of the SCA's Order of the Pelican for service. She also received the International Costumers Guild's Lifetime Achievement award. Trimble was Guest of Honor at 1995's DragonCon, the 6th North American Science Fiction Convention, as well as at many other science fiction and Star Trek conventions around the world. Bjo and John Trimble were the Fan Guests of Honor at the 60th Worldcon, ConJosé.

The Trimbles, who own and operate the business Griffin Dyeworks & Fiber Arts, live in Southern California."

Jericho: Learning From Star Trek

"... a dream that became a reality and spread throughout the stars" -- Captain James T. Kirk (“Whom Gods Destroy”, originally aired January 3, 1969).


Why is JerichoMonster talking about Star Trek? One reason is that there is much we as Jericho fans can learn from the successful campaign that saved the original Star Trek TV series. The second reason is because it is a great honor to present an exclusive interview Thursday evening with Bjo Trimble.

You will learn who Bjo is in the next paragraphs. Her interview will fascinate you, of that I have no doubt. Read to the end for an excerpt of tomorrow's interview.

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Star Trek debuted on NBC on September 8, 1966. The show tells the tale of the crew of the starship USS Enterprise and that crew's five-year mission "to boldly go where no man has gone before." After three seasons, the show was canceled and the last episode aired on June 3, 1969. The series became popular in reruns and a cult following developed with the help of fan conventions.

Enter Bjo Trimble and her husband John.

Wikipedia describes Bjo Trimble as "a significant figure in the history of science fiction fandom. Initially entering fandom in the early 1950s, Trimble, along with her husband John Griffin Trimble, is credited as being one of the most influential fans of their generation."


"After the first cancellation threat from the first season, writers like Harlan Ellison lobbied NBC to keep the show on the air. But Bjo realized it would take more than just the writers banding together. They needed to have an outcry from the fans, and she and John decided to grab the bull by the horns, and find some unconventional means to get NBC's attention. And they did."

"The Trimbles convinced booksellers and convention organizers to donate their mailing lists, and then hoped that those people would contact their friends, and everyone would write to NBC and say that they would want Star Trek saved."

"They even got one fan to take a trip to the NBC Studios in New York City, and find her way into the executive parking lot to plaster limosuines and cars with "I Grok Spock" and "Save Star Trek" bumper stickers."


JerichoMonster asked Bjo the question,"If you had a show you wanted to save from cancellation today how would you employ the internet?"

"There are many ways to deal with the Internet, but people are so gullible they believe anything they hear without checking Snopes," says Bjo. "That’s why the old send-this-terminally-ill-child-a-postcard trick still works.

First, petitions on the Internet are totally useless. Nobody in charge of anything will pay any attention to them. They are too easy to set up and be run by one person. Anybody could be writing names on a list, not necessarily all those names you see on the petition. So forget Internet petitions."

Want to hear more of what Bjo had to say? Stay tuned.