William Shatner – a.k.a. Capt. Kirk, the original skipper of “Star Trek’s” Starship Enterprise – headlines this weekend’s event at the Marriott Denver Tech Center.
“Realistically, this is probably the last year we’ll get William Shatner, since he’s at the peak of his career and he’s 74,” said Stephen Walker.
Walker’s wife, KathE, and her sister Karolyn Jobin founded Denver’s Starfest in 1977, after attending a similar event in New York. KathE Walker has the inside scoop on outer-space characters. She knows, for example, that the “T” in Capt. James T. Kirk stands for Tiberius, and that Kirk hailed from Iowa.
She participated in a letter-writing campaign to stop “Star Trek” from being taken off the air. She and her sister managed the fan club of the late DeForest Kelley, who played Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy on the original series.
In addition to saluting Shatner, this year’s event showcases the upcoming “Star Wars” movie, along with remakes of “War of the Worlds” and “King Kong.” Between film screenings, conventiongoers can take a lesson in conversational Klingon; compete in a Bet’leth and Mek’leth combat tournament; and rub elbows with Vulcans, Romulans and other out-of-this- world costumed characters role-playing at the Starfleet Ball.
Since many original Trekkies lived long, prospered and now have grandchildren, Starfest has added more kid-friendly activities. Young earthlings can attend a wizard academy and discover their animal totem or learn how to use an amulet. They can build models, play laser tag or hunt for treasure.
“It really is a family event with a lot of fun for every age group who likes science fiction and science fact. We play on both,” said KathE Walker.
For the 27th year, Kevin Atkins will serve as Starfest master of ceremonies. A Macintosh computer technician, he formerly worked at Gates Planetarium, where he held a superheroic title: universe fabrication coordinator.
A confirmed sci-fi guy, Atkins grew up voraciously reading Isaac Asimov books. He prefers entertainment heavier on the science than the fiction.
“I’m interested in astronomy and science and what I would consider hard science fiction – something which could possibly happen without a lot of phony stuff,” Atkins said.
And he enjoys the element of utter escape: “Science fiction takes you someplace you’re never going to get to go.”
To extend the otherworldly experience, fans go to conventions.
KathE Walker said, “There’s a stereotype of science fiction fans as geeky people who live in their parents’ basement.” She emphasized that not all Starfest fans are as fanatical as the characters in a famous sendup skit on “Saturday Night Live.” The convention, in fact, appeals to intelligent people – including actual rocket scientists.
“We have a good cross section, including highly educated people from Lockheed Martin and Ball Aerospace and the universities,” Atkins said.
KathE Walker recalls watching the premiere “Star Trek” episode at age 16, in 1966. The story line’s underlying benevolence and goodwill jibed with the peace, love and harmony message of the hippie ’60s.
“I liked that on the show, they could accept people who are different and the idea that in the future we would move beyond wars,” she said.
“‘Star Trek’ offered so much hope in all the things that were possible,” she said. “I figured by this time, I’d be able to go into space. That’s a big disappointment. The space program never really took off.”
Starfest, however, did. The convention averages about 4,500 attendees per day.
Starfest
SCI-FI CONVENTION|Marriott Denver Tech Center, Interstate 25 and Belleview Avenue*; today-Sunday|$12-$75|Call 303-777-6800 or visit www.starland.com for a complete schedule.
