UPDATES: Best wishes to Nichelle Nichols for recovery

By now many of you have heard the official news, posted by her people on Facebook at Galactic Productions, LLC , that Nichelle Nichols suffered a "minor stroke" last night at her home, was rushed to the hospital, and is recovering now, undergoing tests to see its effects.

UPDATE: 
"Update #2 10:15am June 5, 2016
“The MRI showed that Nichelle Nichols had a MINOR stroke. She will start therapy this morning to evaluate how much damage was done, and try to determine her chances for a full or partial recovery. The therapists will test her hand at writing and legs to see if she can stand and walk on her own. Last night Nichelle remained alert, and cheerful.
When we told her about the love and support coming in from around the world she smiled and asked to see the posts on her facebook.
Thank you again for all of your kind words. Keep them coming because Nichelle is reading them.
Feel free to post your pictures with Nichelle and a story about when you met her.” -Zach McGinnis, Galactic Productions, LLC​"

6:25 pm Thursday, 6/5/15:

If there was anything more to top to joy, entertainment,  awareness and outreach she has given so many over all the years already … it has taken Enterprise in Space to remind me of her huge NASA recruiting efforts for diversity and opportunity among our real-space travelers … and our blessed and timely shoot for The Con of Wrath to provide the selfish pleasure of having her before my own camera.

In this pre-anniversary year when we have had headlines enough in Trekland, I hope you join me in sending Nichelle a Priority One message full of best wishes for smart docs and a speedy recovery!

Yes, MLK saved Uhura—and she brought diversity to NASA's real space faces

Dot-connecting time to Star Trek, on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day: 

Yes, MLK "saved" Uhura, via Nichelle Nichols' famous tale—but that in turn allowed, and led directly 10 years later, to her incredible NASA outreach mission and some of our most iconic faces in space, giving us the diverse shuttle corps we came to know—and some real-life IDIC in action.

In Star Trek's own way....THANKS one more time, Dr. King.

Nichelle Nichols On Gene Roddenberry

And Dr. King's Fateful Advice

     FORBES.COM — BY MICHAEL VENABLES 

"… As a result of Nichelle Nichols’ efforts of space exploration evangelism work over the last four months of 1977, NASA received 8,400 applications, 1,649 from women and nearly 1,000 from minorities. 

Here is the NASA leader who is responsible for inspiring the recruitment of Sally K. Ride, the first American woman in space, Judith A. Resnik, the second U.S. female astronaut and first Jewish-American in space, Mae Jemison, the first African-American female astronaut (in TNG role with Nichelle, above), Ellison Onizuka, the first Asian-American in space and the first African-African American male astronauts, Guion Bluford and Ronald McNair.

Nichols' charismatic recruitment method increased the number of applications from women sixteenfold, and from people of color thirtyfold."

RIP Sally Ride—but do you know her big Star Trek Moment?

It was January 10, 1995, and Star Trek: Voyager was just days away from becoming not only Star Trek's first true network series since the orignal... but also the first in the franchise to feature another groundbreaking casting choice: a female captain, Kathryn Janeway.

For the highly anticipated cast and crew premiere screening at Paramount, the UPN honchos and Voyager co-creators Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor (in background) joined new lead Kate Mulgrew—whose Janeway role had been the brainchild of Taylor—and made sure to make a little history that night as well.

Who else to honor on such an auspicious night for the world's biggest space adventure and its first female regular captain .... than America's first female astronaut and high-flying gender pioneer, Dr. Sally K. Ride?

(I was there that night in the front press row, a recent arrival in LA myself, and I'm danged if I can locate my good original photos this second. Instead, here's the studio photog's image we ran in Communicator/Issue 101—so apologies for the print-screen.)

Ride passed away today of pancreatic cancer at 61, having made her mark at age 31 in 1983 as American's first woman in space, and then-youngest ever, at age 32. She left NASA in 1987 after nine years and one more mission, with a third mission postponed by the Challenger disaster and her sitting on the accident's review commission. She resigned to work at Stanford's Center for International Security and Arms Control, as her spot in history will always be assured.

But back on the Paramount Pictures main theater stage in 1995, after honoring Ride for such contributions to space exploration, Mulgrew presented her with a plaque and combadge from the show's sets so Ride "could beam up whenever she felt the need to." In line with the historic mutual love affair overall between Star Trek and NASA—America's fictional and real-life space heroes—Ride's remarks that night revealed she was suitably touched and honored to be a part of another landmark for women in culture.

Ride even had a second and earlier link to the franchise, of course, in that she was in the group of new astronauts chosen from among women and minorities recruited by the NASA program Nichelle "Uhura" Nichols headed in the 1970s-80s.

Happy Birthday, Nichelle!

On a special day for a special lady, here's a special moment recaptured:

GUESS who is singing THAT song while holding a large model of THAT starship-A?: It's a magic live moment from the under-attended but still amazing Hollywood Xpo!