Susan Sackett
Encyclopedia
Susan Sackett is an American author
and screenwriter
, best known for her involvement in the Star Trek
franchise.
and moved to Florida
after graduating from Hillhouse High School in New Haven. She received her Bachelor of Arts (1964) and Master of Education (1965) degrees from the University of Florida
at Gainesville. After teaching elementary school in Miami for two years, she moved to Los Angeles
, where she taught for a short time. She quit her teaching job to work in the entertainment industry, spending four years with the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) as a Publicity Assistant and Commercial Coordinator.
In 1974, she began an association with Gene Roddenberry
, creator of the television legend Star Trek
, serving as his personal executive assistant for over 17 years until his death in October 1991. She also served as his production assistant on Star Trek: The Motion Picture
and worked closely with him on the next five Star Trek
films. In addition, she served as Production Associate during the first five seasons of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
.
Sackett and her writing partner, Fred Bronson
wrote the TNG episodes "Menage a Troi" (teleplay) and "The Game
" (story credit only). Additionally, while working full time as Roddenberry's assistant, Sackett wrote three books about Star Trek
: Letters to Star Trek, Star Trek Speaks!, and The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (with Gene Roddenberry
).
Another book, Star Trek: The First 25 Years, co-authored with Gene Roddenberry
, was purchased by Pocket Books
, although not published due to the publisher's legal entanglements. Instead, it became the basis of the 1994 book, Star Trek: 'Where No One Has Gone Before': A History in Pictures, by J. M. Dillard. In the Fall of 1993, Billboard Books published Prime-Time Hits, her third Billboard book, and Sackett's book Hollywood Sings! was released in 1995.
In 2002, her controversial book Inside Trek: My Secret Life with Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry (Hawk Publishing Group) was released, detailing her decade and a half-long romantic and intimate involvement with her mentor.
She is author of other books also related to the film and television industry, including You Can Be a Game Show Contestant and Win! (Dell Books, 1982), co-written with Cheryl Blythe. Following her own advice as outlined in the book, in 1985 Susan went on Jeopardy!
and won $10,000 in cash and prizes.
Sackett and Blythe also co-authored Say Goodnight, Gracie! - The Story of Burns and Allen (E. P. Dutton, 1986; paperback edition, Prima Publishing, 1989). In 1990, The Hollywood Reporter Book of Box Office Hits was published by Billboard Publications, with an updated and revised version released in 1995.
Although raised as a reform Jew, Susan Sackett considers herself a secular humanist and has been active in Humanism
since 1989. From 2000 to 2010 she was president of Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix. She is on the Board of Directors of the American Humanist Association
, a member of MENSA
, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), and Writers Guild of America
(WGA). In 2011, she was appointed to the Executive Committee of the International Humanist and Ethical Union
(IHEU), based in London. She currently resides in Arizona.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, best known for her involvement in the Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
franchise.
Biography
Susan Sackett was born in New York City on December 18, 1943, raised in ConnecticutConnecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
and moved to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
after graduating from Hillhouse High School in New Haven. She received her Bachelor of Arts (1964) and Master of Education (1965) degrees from the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
at Gainesville. After teaching elementary school in Miami for two years, she moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where she taught for a short time. She quit her teaching job to work in the entertainment industry, spending four years with the National Broadcasting Company
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
(NBC) as a Publicity Assistant and Commercial Coordinator.
In 1974, she began an association with Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
, creator of the television legend Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
, serving as his personal executive assistant for over 17 years until his death in October 1991. She also served as his production assistant on Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a 1979 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the first film based on the Star Trek television series. The film is set in the twenty-third century, when a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud called V'Ger approaches the Earth,...
and worked closely with him on the next five Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
films. In addition, she served as Production Associate during the first five seasons of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
.
Sackett and her writing partner, Fred Bronson
Fred Bronson
Fredric M. Bronson is an American journalist, author and writer. He is best known for his appearances on American Idol, the weekly "Chart Beat" column in Billboard magazine, and as the author of books related to Billboard charts.Born to Irving and Mildred Bronson and raised in Culver City,...
wrote the TNG episodes "Menage a Troi" (teleplay) and "The Game
The Game (TNG episode)
-Plot:The episode opens with William Riker visiting Risa and being introduced to a video game by Etana Jol, a Ktarian woman with whom he has become romantically involved during his vacation on the pleasure planet...
" (story credit only). Additionally, while working full time as Roddenberry's assistant, Sackett wrote three books about Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
: Letters to Star Trek, Star Trek Speaks!, and The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (with Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
).
Another book, Star Trek: The First 25 Years, co-authored with Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
, was purchased by Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
, although not published due to the publisher's legal entanglements. Instead, it became the basis of the 1994 book, Star Trek: 'Where No One Has Gone Before': A History in Pictures, by J. M. Dillard. In the Fall of 1993, Billboard Books published Prime-Time Hits, her third Billboard book, and Sackett's book Hollywood Sings! was released in 1995.
In 2002, her controversial book Inside Trek: My Secret Life with Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry (Hawk Publishing Group) was released, detailing her decade and a half-long romantic and intimate involvement with her mentor.
She is author of other books also related to the film and television industry, including You Can Be a Game Show Contestant and Win! (Dell Books, 1982), co-written with Cheryl Blythe. Following her own advice as outlined in the book, in 1985 Susan went on Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
and won $10,000 in cash and prizes.
Sackett and Blythe also co-authored Say Goodnight, Gracie! - The Story of Burns and Allen (E. P. Dutton, 1986; paperback edition, Prima Publishing, 1989). In 1990, The Hollywood Reporter Book of Box Office Hits was published by Billboard Publications, with an updated and revised version released in 1995.
Although raised as a reform Jew, Susan Sackett considers herself a secular humanist and has been active in Humanism
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
since 1989. From 2000 to 2010 she was president of Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix. She is on the Board of Directors of the American Humanist Association
American Humanist Association
The American Humanist Association is an educational organization in the United States that advances Humanism. "Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism and other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that...
, a member of MENSA
Mensa
Mensa meaning table in Latin, may refer to:*Mensa International, an organization for people with high IQs*Mensa , a southern star constellation*Mensa , a term used by geologists to refer to an extraterrestrial mesa...
, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), and Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
(WGA). In 2011, she was appointed to the Executive Committee of the International Humanist and Ethical Union
International Humanist and Ethical Union
The International Humanist and Ethical Union is an umbrella organisation embracing humanist, atheist, rationalist, secular, skeptic, freethought and Ethical Culture organisations worldwide. Founded in Amsterdam in 1952, the IHEU is a democratic union of more than 100 member organizations in 40...
(IHEU), based in London. She currently resides in Arizona.
Books
- Inside Trek: My Secret Life with Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry, (Hawk Publishing Group 2002)
- Hollywood Sings!, (researched by Marcia Rovins, Billboard Books, 1995)
- Prime-Time Hits, (Billboard Books, 1993)
- Star Trek: The First 25 Years, (with Gene RoddenberryGene RoddenberryEugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
, purchased by Pocket BooksPocket BooksPocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
but not published, 1991) - The Hollywood Reporter Book of Box Office Hits, (Billboard Books, 1990)
- Say Goodnight, Gracie! - The Story of Burns and Allen, (with Cheryl Blythe, E.P. Dutton, 1986); paperback edition (Prima Books, 1989)
- You Can Be a Game Show Contestant and Win! (with Cheryl Blythe, Dell Books, 1982)
- The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (with Gene RoddenberryGene RoddenberryEugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
, Pocket BooksPocket BooksPocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
, 1980) - Star Trek Speaks! (with Fred and Stan Goldstein, Pocket BooksPocket BooksPocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
, 1979) - Letters to Star Trek (Ballantine BooksBallantine BooksBallantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
, 1977)