TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO TELEVISION SHOW HAD GONE BEFORE

Remember the way science fiction T.V. programs were before the nineteen-sixties? Either the heros continually vanquished aggressive aliens or the shows were frivolous sitcoms. Then one aired in 1966 that took the science part seriously and even dared to examine social problems.

In Deliverance From Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School), I described how the cancellation of this show, a mere three years after it began, grieved me. During the days when television helped me temporarily escape the depressing surroundings of Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and Blind, the loss of this inspiring program hit me hard. Here's the excerpt from my book describing how I felt when I heard the sad announcement.

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The news came over my radio one day in April that Star Trek had been cancelled from the fall television line-up. Normally, the loss of a show did not bother me but I felt that program was special. Unlike Lost In Space and similar science fiction series, this one seemed to be, for lack of a better word, plausible.

Furthermore, Star Trek examined many social problems such as racism, conservation, and inequality. I felt sad that this show, which was optimistic about the future of humanity, was leaving the air. The Enterprise's five-year mission ended in only three.

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Deliverance from Jericho contains many more vignettes of what life was like in that government-run institution. These range from poignant experiences of homesickness to hilarious incidents of mischief. Click here to read more about this book and to order it. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.