SCI-FI HALL OF FAME INDUCTS "TREK" CREATOR

Yesterday it was announced that the "Great Bird" Gene Roddenberry, creator of television's Star Trek, was to be among those inducted into the 2007 Science Fiction Hall of Fame. This honor is to recognize the lives, work and legacies of science fiction's premiere contributors and visionaries.

Previous inductees include, Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, Ursula K. Le Guin, Mary Shelley and Isaac Asimov.

The induction ceremony will be hosted by author Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash, The Diamond Age) and the event will also feature the exhibition, Out of This World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television which will display costumes and props from a number of sci-fi film and television properties (including Star Wars, Blade Runner, Terminator, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Batman).

Among the other inductees are book cover painter Ed Emshwiller, motion picture Director Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner) and author Gene Wolfe (The Fifth Head of Cerberus, The Book of the New Sun)

I was really excited to hear that Roddenberry is being recognized. Ever since I was a lonely high school kid, Star Trek was always among one of my favorite shows. Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future gave me hope. I always looked up to the man who could look through all the craziness in our daily lives and see a future worth working towards. As a slightly less than popular kid I gravitated towards his stories, mostly of overcoming difficulties and accepting new and different cultures. He had a great vision and I'm glad it's being celebrated.