Joan Winston

So many names in this guestbook that I recognize from my years in Trek fandom. First, those I met via the Star Trek Welcommittee, and then the acceptance by "The Committee" when I volunteered to work at their cons.

I first met Joanie in 1972, and started working for her publicity "department," which continued for the next four years.

Joanie was unlike anyone I'd ever met, even though I'd been exposed to "famous" people since childhood. Joanie Winston was a force majeur who...

Joan and her friends, those first Trekkers, inspired many of us to have hope for the future as well as to flex our creative muscles, and that has snowballed over the decades as younger, newer fans discovered Star Trek.

Feeling blue after losing three very dear friends I met through Trek, I picked up my copy of "Star Trek Lives"-- and felt that old excitement surge once again. Thanks Joan, so much. I never met you, but we understand your excitement-- the excitement of being a...

To Joan's family:

I am so sorry for your loss.

I will always remember Joanie's kindness to me when I was a teenaged Star Trek fan. I knew her quite well. She was unique and full of fun. I will always miss her.

Goodbye, Joanie!

As a member of "The Committee" that organized the original NYC Star Trek conventions, I knew Joan from a very unique perspective. The committee was for the most part a ragtag group of 20-somethings, and she became our den mother. When we would argue and bicker over arcane issues, she was our voice of reason and the ultimate arbiter. Where we were short-sighted and naive, she would always have the long view. In her way she taught and mentored us, and guided us through some of our most...

I first met Joan (never called her Joanie) at the second Trek con, when this shy 18-year old was thrust in her world as her assistant in the Press area. We became fast friends and I worked as her assistant for five wonderful cons. Our friendship continued many years after, including her mentioning me in her Making of the Star Trek Conventions book. We were members of the NY Science Fiction Society and we attended other conventions together, and she was a guest at my wedding with Startoons'...

I had the honor of meeting Joanie years ago. She was instrumental in introducing me to fandom, publishing my cartoons in Startoons, and oh yes, bringing me and my wife closer together (she was Joanie's assistant at the first Trek cons, what stories she told me!) All our condolences, prayers and feelings to all her family (by blood or not). She will be sorely missed.

Joan-
I met you for the first time in a park near our apartments a little
over two years ago. You admired my little toy poodle. We had a few meetings after that and I always found you extremely warm,
witty and kind.

When you told me your name, it sounded familiar, but I had never attended any Star Trek conventions even though I was a fan of the show.

Thank you for all you did. I will remember you and our thoroughly
enjoyable conversations.

Barbara

Joanie was a much-beloved annual guest at the Shore Leave convention and a fan favorite. She was also a dear friend with whom I enjoyed many long (always!) conversations about everything from Star Trek to figure skating--shared passions!

All of us who enjoy Star Trek conventions, indeed, all media conventions, need to take a moment to acknowledge the magnificent contribution that Joan Winston made to our lives. Back in the late sixties she and a few brave friends dared to dream...

I think I met Joanie at Toronto Con around 1975. I was gophering, minding a door and feeling hungry because I'd had to skip breakfast and somehow I got into a conversation with her and before I knew it she'd brought me some danishes. I was impressed--here I was, a mere fan, and she was not only a BNF but a real author. But she was always "one of us". I was at the famous "scrod fingers" dinner that inspired a very funny series of cartoons that appeared in Joanie's Startoons book and we...