Whitney says that despite his making passes at her continuously, she never slept with Roddenberry (p.73).

Having read Grace Lee Whitney's book for myself, I don't believe Gene Roddenberry was 'The Executive' who raped her. I like original source documents and I love Star Trek, so I wanted to do my own reading to verify the anonymous claim circulating on twitter that Gene Roddenberry raped Grace Lee Whitney. Obviously, I picked up The Longest Trek because of the recent social media uproar. (How are people reviewing this book and not commenting on any of this?) And the author seems completely in the dark about how much self-hatred and misogyny is making it onto the page, or how toxically patronizing she's being about people who are 'immoral,' 'sinful,' and 'promiscuous'. It's loaded down with a poisonous amount of self-blame and internalized misogyny that makes it painful to read. Let me start by saying: This book is SUCH A MESS. And forgave Gene Roddenberry for not fighting for her character and for letting her be written off the show the week after she was raped. It's a book about a rape, and how it destroyed Grace Lee Whitney's fragile ability to hang on to functional alcoholism and set her life into a downward spiral.Īnd then, in the last couple of chapters, it's about how she hit rock bottom, went to AA, became a born again Christian, and got minor roles in a couple of the Trek films. It's a mess of an autobiography that begins, ends, and dwells in the middle on how its author was raped by an unnamed 'Executive' during the brief period when she starred in 8 episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series. “Over time, she became appreciative of her short time on ‘Star Trek’ because she developed meaningful relationships with the fans, Leonard Nimoy and other cast members.I am, frankly, ashamed that nobody who's reviewed this on Goodreads so far has commented on how INSANELY MESSED UP this book is.ĭon't be misled by the packaging. And some of those people, she had met at Star Trek conventions. She goes into more detail about her addiction in her 1998 autobiography “The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy.” She eventually sought treatment, and Dweck said she would have wanted to be remembered more “as a successful survivor of addiction than for her “Star Trek” fame.” He added that his mother had dedicated the last 35 years of her life to helping people with addiction problems. And as much as she loved being known for Star Trek, she wanted to be known for something more, according to her son, Jonathan Dweck, who spoke to ABC News after his mother’s death back in 2015.Īfter her time on The Original Series ended, Whitney struggled with alcoholism for many years. Though Grace Lee Whitney, who would have turned 91 today, only appeared in eight episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series and four of the continuing movies as Janice Rand, she had a dedicated fan base, including Leonard Nimoy.

The Longest Trek by Grace Lee Whitney