For Ray Bradbury, Proud of a Case of Mistaken Identity

Gene Roddenberry asked me to be part of the “Star Trek” family as a writer 25 years ago. He showed me the pilot, and I looked at it and liked it but said at that time that I’ve never been able to adapt other people’s characters--no matter how much I admire them. So, one of the sad things of my life is I was never able to participate in the love and joy that made “Star Trek” so special.

But, ironically, for many years people have thought I was Gene Roddenberry. It never bothered me because I loved him as a friend and admired him as a creator. I was always very proud every time a bunch of young people ran up to me and said, “Oh, Mr. Roddenberry, we all love you and we love ‘Star Trek’.” It happened all the time. I learned over the years to simply say, “Oh, I’m so glad that you like the show. I wrote it for you and I created it for you.” And I let them run off thinking I was Mr. Roddenberry. . . .

I don’t know how much longer I can go on pretending that I’m Gene Roddenberry, now that he’s gone, but I will carry the sweet burden to the end of my life.