Remembering Majel Barrett Roddenberry

Majel Roddenberry, the widow of Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, died Thursday. Majel had just completed the voice work for the computer of the Enterprise in the new Star Trek movie coming out next year. She was 76.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081218/ap_en_ce/obit_roddenberry

The first lady of Star Trek has appeared in every incarnation of the Star Trek franchise, including Nurse Christine Chapel in the original series.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation, she played Lwaxana Troi in a recurring guest role.

After Gene Roddenberry's death she continued to promote the star trek franchise and in the end shaped it in many ways. In doing so, she helped shape several generations of young men and women who grew up loving the series and franchise. As to why people loved Star Trek so much she said:

"You can take any one of our stories that we use right now, put western clothes on us, stick us out in the west and they'll work just as well - any single one of them - because they're stories about people, they're stories about things."

I think that's true. It wasn't the costumes or the special effects (?) but the morality of Star Trek that makes it resonate so deeply with so many people. A morality that no doubt came in part from the creator of the series and his wife. Rest in peace Majel.