Star Trek exists today because of one woman most casual fans have never heard of, and as the franchise prepares to celebrate 60 years this August at Star Trek Las Vegas, that woman has not been formally invited to attend.
Bjo Trimble, alongside her late husband John, ran the “Save Star Trek” letter-writing campaign in 1967 and 1968 after NBC nearly canceled the original series following its low-rated second season. The Trimbles printed roughly 150 letters on a mimeograph machine and mailed them to the most connected fans they knew, asking each recipient to send ten more copies to ten more people. The chain grew into what became one of the largest fan mobilizations in television history. NBC estimated 100,000 letters arrived from the second wave of the campaign alone. Star Trek got its third season. Those 79 episodes were enough to make the show viable in syndication, which is the only reason Star Trek survived long enough to become the franchise that spawned a dozen spinoff series, thirteen feature films, and the very convention marking its 60th anniversary this year. As StarTrek.com itself put it, “you might not be reading this now, and might not be on the boards debating the merits of this Star Trek book or that Trek game had the Trimbles not stepped up to the plate back in 1968.”
Bjo Trimble is 92 years old, born August 15, 1933, in Holdenville, Oklahoma. She served in the U.S. Navy as a WAVE in the early 1950s, which is what makes her eligible for the Veterans Home of California facility where she now resides. Her husband John, her partner in the letter campaign and in 64 years of marriage, passed away in April 2024 at 87. That combination, her age, her widowhood, and her current place in veterans’ residential care, is exactly why the fan campaign organizing on her behalf has been careful not to promise she can make the trip. Organizer Erin Jensen’s post is explicit that the family isn’t sure travel is realistic, which is a reasonable thing to be uncertain about for a 92-year-old woman in assisted care, whatever the specifics of her day-to-day health. That uncertainty is also exactly why a formal invitation matters now rather than later. A woman who saved the franchise being asked to wait for next year’s anniversary isn’t a guarantee she’ll get one.
Fans have started organizing to make sure she’s recognized either way. Fan Erin Jensen posted the following message, now circulating in Star Trek fan groups on Facebook, and asked that it be shared in full:
“Please help us thank Bjo Trimble! As some of you may know, Bjo Trimble has not (yet) been formally invited to join the STLV convention Las Vegas this August. Bjo has been a driving force in the world of sci-fi, and most notably, Star Trek. She and her late husband, John, led a letter-writing campaign in 1967 that ultimately resulted in Star Trek: The Original Series renewed for its third season. In many ways, it is because of her that we are able to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Star Trek this year. My friend Yez and I have been in touch with Bjo’s daughter, Lora, in the hopes we could find a way to get Bjo there so she can be recognized during this milestone year for Star Trek. At this time, Bjo does not want a fundraiser and we are unsure if she’s able to attend. In the meantime, we wanted to make sure she gets some recognition if she cannot make it, and Lora approved of this virtual thank you card: https://recocards.com/board/thank-you-bjo-152428873450
If you’d like to send her a physical thank you, can send it to:
Bjo Trimble, Veterans Home of California-West Los Angeles RCFE, Room C304, 11500 Nimitz Ave, West Los Angeles CA 90049, United States
Feel free to sign it and/or share it with other fans! And of course, if you’d like to encourage Creation Entertainment’s Trek Conventions to invite her, please do so.”
Jensen’s post notes Bjo has asked that no fundraiser be organized on her behalf, and that her daughter Lora has approved a virtual thank-you card fans can sign in her place. Fans wanting to send Bjo something in writing can find mailing details through the original campaign post rather than through secondhand reproductions of it, both out of respect for her family’s wishes and because a 92-year-old woman in a care facility doesn’t need her exact address circulating across the entire internet.
If a physical trip to Las Vegas genuinely isn’t feasible at 92, that doesn’t have to be the end of it. A virtual segment during the convention, even a short recorded message or a live video call brought up on the Hall H screen, would let Creation Entertainment recognize her during the exact anniversary her own campaign made possible, without requiring her to travel at all. Star Trek Las Vegas has built a Hall H panel roster spanning six series and multiple generations of cast for this milestone year. None of that happens without a woman who spent her own money on a mimeograph machine in 1967 because she refused to let a cancellation notice be the end of the story. Whether she can make the trip or not, this is the year to give her the seat.
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Like the British WW2 veterans crying over their country's current state, I wonder how many surviving fans of that letters campaign would even recognize "modern" Star Trek?
How could their love and dedication lead us here sixty years later?
Never forgive those responsible.