Dorothy C. Fontana
1939-2019 |
-- In Loving Memory --
We at Jacobs/Brown Press are sad to report that Dorothy C. Fontana passed away Monday night, December 2, 2019, after a brief illness. She was 80. Fans of the original Star Trek certainly know about Dorothy's remarkable contributions, as "D.C. Fontana," serving as writer, story editor, and associate producer. Among her triumphs as a writer for the original series were "Charlie X," "Tomorrow Is Yesterday," "This Side of Paradise," "Friday's Child," "Journey to Babel," and "The Enterprise Incident." Other landmark Star Trek episodes written by Dorothy were "Yesteryear" (for the 1973 animated series), "Encounter at Far Point" (for Star Trek: The Next Generation), as well as for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Dorothy was a busy writer for other series, as well, such as The Wild, Wild West (under the pseudonym of Michael Edwards), Bonanza, The Big Valley, The High Chaparral, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Streets of San Francisco, The Waltons, and Babylon 5. |
Dorothy C. Fontana & Vic Mignogna
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On a more personal note, members of the Jacobs/Brown are particularly aggrieved by this news after having worked with Dorothy, who recently wrote the Foreword for author Marc Cushman's fourth volume in the These Are the Voyages book series, as well as participating in the recordings for the recent audio book of These Are the Voyages, produced by Vic Mignogna.
Upon hearing the news, Vic sent word to us:
“What a rare privilege to get the opportunity to work closely with Dorothy for the audio book of These are the Voyages. It was so surreal and such an honor, not only that one responsible for so much of the show I loved was in my studio recording her own excerpts from the book, but also that she called me a few times after to tell me how much she loved our web series, Star Trek Continues, and felt it was the best thing she had seen since TOS. An extraordinary woman who will be dearly missed.”
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On Tuesday morning, Marc Cushman sent us this remembrance:
“I corresponded with Dorothy a few weeks back and she was fine, so this is the last thing in the world I expected to be talking about today. I had dinner with her earlier in the year and remember thinking then that she was the youngest 80-year-old I've ever known; still so active, teaching at AFI, writing a new novel, giving me help for my books, doing radio interviews with me, and so much more.
I can't even begin to express how remarkably supportive she has been of my books over the years, and always generous with her time. She even offered to read each of my books before they went to print and give notes. This especially humbled me because the original Star Trek was the show that got me to want to be a writer in the first place, and Dorothy was, in my opinion, the best writer on the series.
I read hundreds of her memos from the 1960s and '70s while researching these books, in which she gave notes to all the writers on their scripts, including Gene Roddenberry! So, to receive notes from her on my writing was an amazing honor. I adored Dorothy, and I will miss her deeply."
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The entire staff of Jacobs/Brown sends their sincerest condolences to Dennis Skotak, her husband of 38 years, as well as to all those who have enjoyed and revered her work as colleagues and/or consumers of quality writing.
On a more personal note, members of the Jacobs/Brown are particularly aggrieved by this news after having worked with Dorothy, who recently wrote the Foreword for author Marc Cushman's fourth volume in the These Are the Voyages book series, as well as participating in the recordings for the recent audio book of These Are the Voyages, produced by Vic Mignogna.
Upon hearing the news, Vic sent word to us:
“What a rare privilege to get the opportunity to work closely with Dorothy for the audio book of These are the Voyages. It was so surreal and such an honor, not only that one responsible for so much of the show I loved was in my studio recording her own excerpts from the book, but also that she called me a few times after to tell me how much she loved our web series, Star Trek Continues, and felt it was the best thing she had seen since TOS. An extraordinary woman who will be dearly missed.”
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On Tuesday morning, Marc Cushman sent us this remembrance:
“I corresponded with Dorothy a few weeks back and she was fine, so this is the last thing in the world I expected to be talking about today. I had dinner with her earlier in the year and remember thinking then that she was the youngest 80-year-old I've ever known; still so active, teaching at AFI, writing a new novel, giving me help for my books, doing radio interviews with me, and so much more.
I can't even begin to express how remarkably supportive she has been of my books over the years, and always generous with her time. She even offered to read each of my books before they went to print and give notes. This especially humbled me because the original Star Trek was the show that got me to want to be a writer in the first place, and Dorothy was, in my opinion, the best writer on the series.
I read hundreds of her memos from the 1960s and '70s while researching these books, in which she gave notes to all the writers on their scripts, including Gene Roddenberry! So, to receive notes from her on my writing was an amazing honor. I adored Dorothy, and I will miss her deeply."
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The entire staff of Jacobs/Brown sends their sincerest condolences to Dennis Skotak, her husband of 38 years, as well as to all those who have enjoyed and revered her work as colleagues and/or consumers of quality writing.
