My Assault on Sherry Lansing..

Having mentioned Paramount the other day it reminded me of the time I got to being mad at them. This was the time, back in 1993, when Sherry Lansing was head of Paramount, and was saying they were going to make Next Generation Movies and drop "the old guys"... I guess you can imagine that I saw RED! (This all happened shortly after Brandon Tartikoff had stepped down as chairman of Paramount.. and HE wanted to do another movie WITH the Original Cast!)
I talked with DeForest and asked him if this was because some of the originals maybe didn't want to do anymore. He said, "no". If a good script was there and they asked they'd all do another. (this was after ST 6 had already been out)
So in my infinite wisdom (which is none) I decided to wage war with Sherry Lansing and Paramount about the Original Trek folks and wanting them to do another movie..
My brainstorm was to send her a piece of mail each week... for however long, I hadn't decided. Before I even began I knew it wouldn't mean diddly but I wanted to feel like: at least I tried.
I didn't tell the Kelley's my "plan" but what I did do was xerox a copy of what I sent each week and sent it to them. De had foretold me that he could not be "involved" but would be interested to see what I did. (I think it was more then he figured lol)
Anyway.. I began my war with a little "poem" that I wrote... now, let me tell you.. I'm ain't no poet! ...but this was the first piece of mail to Sherry Lansing..

That was "Week 1"....
I have to say as I scanned these things I thought, "geez if i had a computer back then I could have done some REALLY good stuff!".Ah well, I was only voice my opinion after all... (jokingly I mailed a copy to De and Carolyn with a note )

Week 2 ...
I wanted to let her know that I thought a Star Trek VII would be nice.. with the Originals of course!

These were both 8x10 and had to be hand drawn and colored... I cut out a photo from a magazine, xeroxed it for De and put it in the mail to Sherry Lansing. I wondered what the odds were that it would ever get past her secretary..but hey, I had to try.

Week 3...
Week 3 saw me "crafty".. of sorts. Some cut outs and paste helped lol...

If you can't read it .. its says: When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are... But when you wish upon THESE stars...your dreams come true!
I wasn't fooling around lol... I'd push Walt Disney or anyone into their faces if it would get our guys another movie!

Week 4...
Next I tried music... well.. I didn't send a recording! (lucky for her!), but the titles fit!
(when I can I am making the pics smaller, but some I can't or you can't see it at all lol)

Week 5...
I had this photo of "McCoy" from Search for Spock.. near the end when Spock looks at his friends who "brought him back to life".. and I heard Spocks voice when he put his katra into McCoy... "Remember"...

It was a color photo and looked better, but all I had saved was a b&w xerox.
I was still sending copies to the Kelley household. It was a weekly call back to me with comments each week. Carolyn did a lot of giggling.

Week 6..

By now De was beginning to feel sorry for Sherry Lansing... well... maybe a little.

Week 7...
This week I added alot of color... thought maybe she'd notice it..heh.

It was also LARGER , about 11x14. it was folded in half like a card. The yellow was the top.. when you opened it the black. The stars are photo's I had taken of the cast that had stars on the walk of fame at the time. I think I heard Deforest moan when he saw the copy and knew the size of it ...heh.

Week 8...
(tired of this yet?. I was hoping Sherry Lansing was beginning to get the idea)

this week I took it easy and cut out an article and highlighted to better points. At the top I wrote: "They are yours to do with as you please. They have been and always shall be our friends. They are the heart of Star Trek. Listen to your heart... listen to the Fans. They're not dead yet Jim!"

Week 9...
No rest for the weary.. I pushed forward, while Carolyn giggled some more!

I liked this one myself LOL... I burned the edges of the paper and some holes in it to make it look like a wanted poster. It too was a bit large and had to be folded. I think the cowboy in De liked this one!

Week 10...

Since it hadn't been all that long since the cast had put their hands in cement at Mann's I thought I'd remind her how much they are loved.

If they weren't getting to Lansing... I figured her secretary was, by now, dreading to open anything from me!

Week 11...
(like my artistic touches? lol)

Week 12...
I myself couldn't believe I was still sending this stuff!

How much hinting did this woman need????? I know I wasn't the only one !!

Week 13...

I was running out of ideas! But refused to give up!

Week 14...
I was surprised that I managed to get inspired again.... much to Sherry Lansings dismay.

By now I was surprised she didn't send a cop after me lol...
So I decided I'd better wind it up... after all... I think I sent as many HINTS as I could come up with. But, I would send one last HINT...... and it would be the biggest one yet! A full sheet of oaktag! Rolled and mailed in a tube!

Week 15..

When I told De about this one he guffawed!...
Of course I never heard from Sherry Lansing, and maybe that's for the best. But about a week after I finally halted my assault on her I received a note and package from DeForest....


If you can't read his handwriting it reads: "Dear Pat, Please accept this "Lemon Seal Award" for the most imaginative Star Trek petition for the return of the Original Crew for number VII. I was most impressed with your presentation. I'm sure Sherry Lansing will be too..... Deforest"
Ummm, yes.. that is a real lemon which came off of the tree in De's backyard.. he painted the eye and beak and presented it to me... Heck, that was better then anything I could have gotten from Sherry Lansing!.... well, except maybe another movie *sigh*