Remembering John G. Trimble

StarTrek.com is saddened to report the passing of John G. Trimble, who passed away the morning of April 19, 2024, as confirmed by his daughter Lora Boem in a post.

Star Trek and fandom as we know it all stems from the efforts and passion of John and his wife Bjo Trimble, the couple who launched a grassroots letter writing campaign to Save Star Trek following NBC’s cancellation of the Original Series, resulting in a third season. With enough episodes then, Star Trek was able to enter syndication, propelling it into a phenomenon that warranted an animated series in 1973 and big-budget feature in 1979.

John and Bjo Trimble, in 2016, were brought on stage at Star Trek Las Vegas in celebration of the 50th anniversary, and the Star Trek franchise team surprised and honored them with a painted portrait of them by artist JK Woodward.

Recalling their efforts after a visit to the Original Series set, following the 50th anniversary honor, John Trimble told StarTrek.com, "When we saw the change in the cast and crew during the filming of 'The Deadly Years' from what it had been before, we knew something was going on. It had been a very up cast and crew, and now it was very down, the mood. We found out by going to craft services, the underground gossip source, that they were probably going to cancel the show after the second season. We had to leave and go back to Oakland, where we lived at the time, and on the way, we were talking about what a change it had been in the cast. I turned to Bjo and I said, 'There ought to be something we can do about that,' knowing full well that that was throwing down the challenge."

The couple immediately sprang into action. John Trimble added, "We spent the rest of the trip going up the Central Valley, before Interstate 5, back to Oakland, discussing how to do it and putting together the Save Star Trek campaign."

Bjo Trimble credited John for building out the framework of their grassroots campaign, "We knew, of course, we were going to have to both mail letters. John went down to the post office, learned all about mail rules, and brand new was the zip code system. They told us, flat out, that if material wasn't zip coded it wouldn't go out as bulk mail, that it would just sit in the post office. John got all the books in those days, and it was stacks of them, and learned about the zip code rules. And we came home and put those into effect when we mailed out letters. John was downstairs with a hand-cranked mimeograph machine, turning out the letters, which we still have a copy or two. We folded them, labeled them and stamped them, and put them in bulk mail. He was doing a whole bunch of the physical work, the grunt work. I was more getting people over to help us. It was actually wonderful. We would work the volunteers hard all weekend. John was everywhere; he was the one who ran the errands. He's the one who lifted, toted, and basically it simply was not possible for me to do it alone. This is why we're a pair."

The decades following their legendary writing campaign, John and Bjo Trimble remained ambassadors for science fiction, the space program, and the Society of Creative Anachronism. The pair continued to attend Star Trek premiere and events, meeting fellow fans and sharing their enthusiasm for each new iteration of Star Trek and generation of fandom, including last year’s Star Trek: Picard Season 3 red carpet premiere in Hollywood, CA.

The entire Star Trek family sends their condolences to Trimble’s family, friends, and loved ones around the world.