Joan “Joanie” Winston, one of the founders of the first Star Trek conventions, and author of The Making of the Star Trek Conventions and a co-writer of Star Trek Lives!, passed away 11 September 2008 at age 77. According to her family, Joan died in her sleep at an assisted living center in New York.
Regarded as one of the most influential Star Trek fans of all time, she was a member of the New York Star Trek Committee (aka the “Committee”), the organizers of the original Trek conventions in the 1970s, and was instrumental in introducing the main cast and crew of Star Trek to the notion of attending conventions. She was featured in the 2004 documentary Trekkies 2.
I was among the 3,000 at the first multi-day Trek con at the Statler-Hilton, NYC in Janury1972.
Services for Joan were held Sunday 14 September at the Plaza Funeral Home in Manhattan (and available on a web cast: at this link). In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to The Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale. 5901 Palisade Avenue, Bronx, NY 10471, who cared for Joanie in her final months.