Back in 2014, when I was still a graduate student at UConn, George Takei was announced as coming to campus.
Of course, like any Star Trek fan I have an appreciation for George Takei. Captain Sulu, "oh my!", and so on. But I have a particular appreciation for George Takei because mine and Michael's first Star Trek book was Myriad Universe: The Tears of Eridanus. Set in an alternate reality where the Andorians dominate the Federation instead of humanity, it focuses on Captain Hikaru Sulu, captain of the largely Andorian crew of the Kumari, sent on a rescue mission to save his daughter on a desert planet. I wrote the Hikaru chapters, and I really enjoyed writing them. I think this Sulu is fundamentally the same as the Prime universe Sulu: a fundamentally inquisitive, personable man capable of steel when the situation calls for. I drew on how Sulu was an astrophysicist in the second pilot to make him a scientist, here struggling in the more militaristic environment of this universe.
Takei was appearing, I think, as part of his promotion of Allegiance, his musical that would debut on Broadway about a year later; the talk was co-sponsored by the Asian-American Studies Institute, the director of whom was on English faculty, and I knew, just knew that there had to be a dinner. There's always a dinner in academia.
I wanted in on that dinner.
After much hemming and hawing and I finally decided I would approach the professor, who I had taken one class with, and who was (I thought) friendly enough with me. I begged her to let me in somehow.
Thankfully, she acceded, with the condition that I would have to earn my keep by helping her. She was on crutches, so I would be her dogsbody, transporting her to and from the event, and doing any needed fetching and carrying. Of course I agreed.
The dinner wasn't one of those things where it's a speaker and six university types at the local Chinese place; it was a whole room of tables, with UConn catering. I was not at George Takei's table-- such an honor was reserved for the UConn president and provost and their like. (The provost, an Asian-American nerd himself, was the most human I ever saw him.) I had a copy of Tears with me, which I had made out to him, and I had wanted to give it to him at the dinner, but the whole time he was chatting up a storm and I couldn't work up the nerve to interrupt. He was doing a signing after his talk, so I figured I just give it to him then.
(Incidentally, the whole of UConn's Undergraduate Student Government executive was there, apparently having been invited as a matter of course. Was such courtesy extended to the Graduate Student Senate executive, of which I was then a member? At UConn in 2014, you don't even have to ask. I did get to chat with the president briefly... she failed to recognize me in any way shape or form even though we had had several interactions over the past couple years. Say what you will about our ruthless provost, but he knew to smile as he slipped in the knife.)
After his talk, I stood in the autograph line. This turned out to be quite long and I was quite a ways toward the end. Eventually it was declared that beyond a certain point no one was going to get to talk to him. Thankfully, the woman managing this was someone I had sat next to and explained my backstory to during dinner, so she let me stay in line. As the very last person in line, I was able to present George Takei with my autograph, telling him I had written a novel of Captain Sulu. He graciously accepted it and said some kind words, I think.
And that was it! I sometimes wonder what happened to that book. I doubt he read it. I read somewhere that some celebrities auction off stuff fans give them and donate the money to charity. Has some random fan gotten a copy of Tears of Eridanus with my inscription to George Takei? Or is the book in a pride of place on his bookshelf, as THE definitive Sulu novel?
#646: What famous person would you like to visit your school?
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