February 11, 2003

Re: Sean Morton

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is to address issues presented by Mr. Sean Morton. These issues were first brought to my attention by Royce Myers. I was told that Mr. Morton was making claims regarding his "involvement" with "Star Trek," the well-known television program and motion picture franchise.

I served as Gene Roddenberry's personal Executive Assistant for over seventeen (17) years, from August 19, 1974 until his death on October 24, 1991. At no time was the name of Sean Morton ever one with which I was familiar, and I knew virtually every name of every person in our Rolodex, or who ever visited our offices.

Having read some of the rather unusual claims that Mr. Morton has made, I must address these.

Mr. Morton claims the following: "When Paramount decided that Star Trek was to become a series of TV movies, they summarily FIRED Gene and brought on Harve Bennett to produce. Gene went crazy, had a nervous breakdown, and was forcibly escorted off the lot by security." This is a quote from Mr. Morton that I read on Royce Myers' website.

I can attest to the fact that this is a false statement. At no time did Gene Roddenberry ever have a nervous breakdown, and he was absolutely never, ever forcibly escorted off the lot by security. I do not know Mr. Morton's purpose in make such false statements; but I do know that they are false.

Mr. Morton also claims to have been instrumental in the development of the second Star Trek series, "Star Trek: The Next Generation." This is a total falsehood. I was present at every planning and pre-production meeting from the inception of the show through its initial airing and throughout its first five seasons until Mr. Roddenberry's death. At no time was Mr. Sean Morton present at any of the planning sessions, nor was his name even mentioned.

His claim that I read on Royce Myers' website, "In fact Patrick Stewart was cast because I used to bring my X-Men comics into the office, which Gene LOVED, and he looked like Charles Xavier - who he is now playing in the movie! Pretty neat, eh!" is simply put, a lie. Gene Roddenberry never read comic books, and Mr. Morton never entered our office (I was responsible for clearing all visitors to our office and remember all the names of our visitors; this was not one of them). Gene cast Patrick Stewart as Captain Picard because Robert Justman, one of the producers who worked with Gene on the first series and was involved with the creation of the "Next Generation," saw Mr. Stewart in a play at UCLA and insisted that Gene interview him. Gene was initially against a bald man for the role of the captain. I was present when Bob Justman brought Patrick Stewart into the office for his initial introduction to Gene. He was a very charismatic actor, and Gene warmed to him immediately. This is all documented in my memoir, Inside Trek, published last year and available from Amazon.com.

Mr. Morton also claims to have given Gene a proposal for a story or series called "The Guardians." As the person responsible for cataloging all of Gene's incoming and outgoing correspondence, I do not recall ever seeing or hearing of a property by that name. We received numerous unsolicited manuscripts a week; it was always our policy (and that of Paramount Pictures) to immediately return all such unsolicited manuscripts unopened and unread. Nothing like this was ever retained in our possession.

I am also an expert in identifying Mr. Roddenberry's true signature as used in his autograph and thousands of pieces of correspondence over the years, should such expertise be of use in this matter.

The above information is my true statement, to the best of my knowledge.

Sincerely,

Susan Sackett
Executive Assistant to the late Gene Roddenberry