The Communicator (Star Trek US newsletter 7)

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For other pages with similar titles, see Communicator.

Zine
Title: The Communicator
Publisher: S.T.A.R. **Utah out of Salt Lake City, Utah at first, but then in November 1975 is published by Star Trek Intermountain.
Editor(s): Carol Andrus and Julia Howarth
Type: newsletter
Date(s): 1973-?
Frequency: monthly
Medium: print
Fandom: Star Trek: TOS
Language: English
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

The Communicator is a Star Trek: TOS newsletter published out of Utah.

zine ed Julia Howarth (West) typing up an issue of The Commicator amid some paper tribbles, 1975. In November 1975, Howarth wrote: "There is a new baby in the family. His name is Randy. He is grey, with green teeth and a great carriage. He typed the entire COMMUNICATOR. He is my typewriter, which I up and bought with $20 that should have gone to the electric bill!"

"The Communicator" was published monthly "for the Utah division of the Star Trek Association for Revival by Poogle Publications," and by November 1975, by Star Trek Intermountain.

Labor of Love

The newszine was assembled by literally cutting and pasting. Articles (typed on an old manual typewriter) were cut out and glued on the pages (in this case, 8-1/2 x 14 sheets of plain white paper). Artwork was also cut out and glued to the page. The titles and page numbers were hand written or calligraphed. Sources of artwork were fannish artists, prints of Star Trek film clips, TV Guide and newspapers, and photocopies of pictures from professional magazines. We then took the masters to one of the few copy shops available in the 1970s to print the pages. The magazine was hand folded and collated, then stapled with a tiny Swingline Cub stapler. This magazine was a very amateur labor of love. [1]

Some History

[from the November 1975 issue]:

Well, it looks like Star Trek Intermountain has finally reached the turning point. STI is now a completely viable club with regular publications, full-scale meetings, and the possibility of new chapters forming in the Kearns area, Las Vegas, and Montana. We now approach our first official officer elections and enjoy the cooperation of the Salt Lake County library system.

Gerry Williams, past commodore of S.T.A.R.**UTAH, now living in San Diego, California, just published SUBSPACE CHATTER again and it appears that Gerry and Penny are now back to normal In their new home. In the zine, Gerry tells about the club S.T.A.R./San Diego and how they meet once a month in full costume with dealer's tables and everything that constitutes a "minicon." It's as if they held one of our General Meetings every month. ((Course it helps that they have close on 500 paid members, too! —ed.)) Well, we've got a special meeting this month at the Holladay library and another one in December at the Kearns branch. I would like anyone to come to our meetings in costume if they want to.

Currently the USSF (Utah Society of Science Fiction) is having its problems—with which we oan deeply sympathise. In a state where SF fans are not as numerous as in other places, any SF group must keep the interests of those fans in the highest regard. Activities planned by such a group should maintain the interest and enthusiasm of the fan in ways that stimulate and emphasize the importance of science fiction in a world where SF is becoming science fact at a rapidly accelerating pace. Theodore Sturgeon (author of "Shore Leave" and "Amok Time," as well as E Pluribus Unicorn and other well-known stories) says that science fiction is the antidote for future shock. Science fiction and science fiction fans have Importance, even in Utah.

Star Trek Intermountain invites you to join us in the future, the optimistic future of Star Trek.

Michael Scott

Commodore, Star Trek Intermountain

V.2 N.2

The Communicator V.2 N.2 was published in June 1974.

V.2 N.3

The Communicator V.2 N.3 was published in July 1974.

V.2 N.4

The Communicator V.2 N.4 was published in November 1974.

V.2 N.5

The Communicator V.2 N.5 was published in December 1974.

V.3 N.1

The Communicator V.3 N.1 was published in February 1975.

V.3 N.2

The Communicator V.3. N.2 was published in March 1975 and contains 24 pages. "This issue of THE COMMUNICATOR is hereby dedicated to Star Trek Archives of San Francisco."

cover of v.3 n.2, art by Michael Scott

  • inside v.3 n.2, con report for The Red Hour Festival, one which illustrates how difficult it is to read the newsletter itself, much less with the constraints of this wiki

  • inside v.3 n.2, Michael Scott

  • inside v.3 n.2, Julia Howarth

  • inside v.3 n.2, Bruce Thatcher

Reactions and Reviews: V.3 N.2

The Communicator is the newsletter of STAR**Utah, but it definitely of interest to any ST fan for news and articles. I didn't know that AMT was putting out a model of the Romulan ship this month or the Enterprise bride in June -- and that's about all the news I'll take from them (well ---) as I think it would be better if you subscribe to it yourself. (Besides, you'd get the news a lot faster, as it's published monthly.) And of course, they need art & other submissions, too. [2]


V.3 N.3

The Communicator V.3 N.3 was published in April 1975.

cover of v.3 n.3


V.3 N.4

The Communicator V.3 N.4 was published in September 1975.

cover of v.3 n.4


V.3 N.5

The Communicator V.3 N.5 was published in November 1975 and contains 39 pages. The editor was Julia Howarth, assistant editors were Carol Andrus, Susan Dastrup (Dastrup's first editing foray).

The editor, Julia, wrote that: "There is a new baby in the family. His name is Randy. He is grey, with green teeth and a great carriage. He typed the entire COMMUNICATOR. He is my typewriter, which I up and bought with $20 that should have gone to the electric bill!"

front cover of v.3 n.5
back cover of v.3 n.5

The front cover is by Cathy Brown. Other art by Mike Goodwin, Tom Reid, Debbie Collin (back cover), and Matthew Waki.

  • Commodore's Log by Michael Scott (2)
  • Starbase Status Report by Julia Howarth, Susan Dastrup (4)
  • STI General Election, info about candidates, some info was in the "October TRANSPONDER." Two candidates were running for the office of Commodore: Michael Scott and Carol Andrus. Other positions were vied for but apparently had no opposition. (6)
  • Tribble Tracks, Star Trek general news (10)
  • Briefing Room, meeting minutes for two different gatherings which featured slide shows and much more, plus a report about the Star Trek Intermountain Halloween Party which was held at the Redwood Multipurpose Center where Dave Barr (brother of George Barr) was a security guard. The party featured spaghetti, cole slaw, and cake, prizes, costumes, and a trivia contest. (11)
  • Viewscreen by Susan Dastrup, a review of Space: 1999 (bemoans the casts' British accents as being off-putting), and of the Wonder Woman series starring Lynda Carter (15)
  • Battle Stations by Michael Scott, an article about Star Trek wargaming (18)
  • Yesteryear, fans are putting together a fan "yearbook" called Yesteryear. It will have photos of club members and was to have been published in February 1978
  • Tribune Star Trek Article by Tim Norris, article reprint (20)
  • a flyer for Intercon
  • Hailing Frequencies (many letters from fans, plus one LONG letter from Jean Peacock (chairperson of Equicon) which comments on the con reports in the previous issue of "The Communicator".) See Equicon/1975#Response by Jean Peacock (con chair) to Several Con Reports. (23)
  • con report by John Gilham for the second British Star Trek Convention, see that page (32)
  • Entertainment Center (puzzles and trivia) (34)

  • inside page from v.3 n.5, art

  • inside page from v.3 n.5, art by Debbie Collin

  • inside page from v.3 n.5, the newspaper clipping

  • inside page from v.3 n.5, first page of the con report

V.4 N.1

The Communicator v.4 n.1 was published in Jan-Feb 1976.

cover of v.4 n.1


References

  1. ^ Utah SF History
  2. ^ from The Clipper Trade Ship #6
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