This is the first of seven posts, collectively encompassing this afternoon’s club e-meeting.
1) INTRODUCTION
Welcome to MonSFFA’s August 2022 e-Meeting!
Sit down in your most comfortable chair, a bowl of your favourite tasty snacks at hand, pour yourself a cool, refreshing drink, and join us for an afternoon of sci-fi fun and conversation. Our theme today is “games,” and thus have we lined up two for you, the first a trivia challenge, the second our sci-fi version of the parlour game Balderdash!
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We would be remise, however, were we not to first note the recent passing of Star Trek actress Nichelle “Lieutenant Uhura” Nichols. A beloved member of the vast Star Trek family, she died at age 89 of natural causes on Saturday, July 30, in Silver City, New Mexico.
In her final years, Nichols suffered from advanced dementia and her son, with whom she had been living, wrote of his dear departed mother, “Her light…like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration. Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.”
Nichols was eulogized, too, by former cast mates, Hollywood friends, and many others as an actress who, in playing the part of the Enterprise’s highly skilled communications officer, broke down stereotypes and opened doors for women of colour in the entertainment industry. No more would actresses of colour be relegated to marginal roles as maids and the like.
She counted among her many fans during the early days of Star Trek no less than American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. When she considered leaving the show after its first season, it was King who urged her to remain with the series, highlighting the importance of demonstrating to America that a black woman belonged on the bridge of the Enterprise as much as anyone else. Her presence there, one of and respected among a crew of accomplished officers offered a positive vision of our future, and served as inspiration for African-Americans throughout not just the television industry, but the nation.
She and co-star William Shatner helped further demolish racial barriers with their then-controversial interracial kiss on national television in the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren.”
Post-Star Trek, Nichols was tapped by NASA to help recruit some of the first women and members of minority communities to become astronauts, one of which was Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space. In 1992, as a crewmember on STS-47, Jemison initiated communications aboard the space shuttle Endeavour with “Hailing frequencies open,” quoting Uhura’s oft-spoken line from Star Trek.
We are saddened at the news of Nichelle Nichols’ passing, and we celebrate her legacy.
We also mourn one of our own, recently passed. 
MonSFFA was informed of a planned online (ZOOM) memorial service for Marc, and club members will have received by e-mail details concerning this service, scheduled for next Sunday, August 21, at 11:00AM.
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Note that with the seventh wave now upon us and COVID numbers climbing locally and elsewhere, we opted, last month, to postpone our in-person club Barbecue-in-the-Park until Sunday, August 28. We are told by authorities that by then, the seventh wave should have dissipated. But if we’ve learned anything during this pandemic, it’s that the virus does not often behave as expected. Nevertheless, fingers crossed! The 28th is but two weeks off, and we’ll take a moment this afternoon to briefly square away any last-minute details with respect to this event.
And, we’ll touch base with all of you as regards your summer, so far—genre projects on which you may be working; cool, SF/F-related vacation destinations you may have visited; good books you’ve been reading; and screen entertainment you’ve been watching of late.
So, join us on ZOOM for all the fun, and let’s get started!
2) JOIN THIS AFTERNOON’S VIDEO-CHAT ON ZOOM!
To join our ZOOM video-chat, which will run throughout the next few hours, simply click here and follow the prompts: This Afternoon’s MonSFFA e-Meeting on ZOOM
If you’re not fully equipped to ZOOM, you can also join in by phone (voice only); in the Montreal area, the toll-free number to call is: 1-438-809-7799. If you’re from out of town, find your ZOOM call-in number here: Call-In Numbers
Also, have this information on hand as you may be asked to enter it:
Meeting ID: 878 6326 8110
Passcode: 326574
3) MEETING AGENDA
Here is the agenda for this afternoon’s online get-together:
