Recently, I have been reading a lot of fan-fiction. Mostly my own. I wrote scads of stories a couple of decades ago; probably wrote more than 500,000 pages. This was never for money, only the pleasure of writing and the satisfaction of giving readers pleasure.

I had not read any of it for 10 years. So why now? Mainly because my ancient FrontPage was no longer compatible with any kind of ftp and uploading a new program would cause the old website to disappear. Bye, bye, Bookscape’s Domain. I was loathe to let all that work, mine and others, disappear. So I began moving the stories to a repository of such things. I did this, for the most part, without reading the stories. That is, until I loaded up the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea pages. It was at this time I found out that David Hedison had passed away. Hedison played Captain Lee Crane opposite Richard Basehart’s Admiral Nelson in the series.

When I was a teenager, I went out on Sunday nights to make sure the antenna was pointed to Birmingham so I could watch Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Even when it rained. I have to admit, I had a crush on Hedison. The character he played was resourceful, brave, and handsome, with a sexy voice to melt any young girl’s heart.
Later, when I attended some of the local sci-fi conventions, meeting David went on my bucket list. I was by no means a rabid celebrity stalker, I just enjoyed meeting the people I watched when I was younger. The opportunity to meet Mr. Hedison came in 2006. My husband and I drove up to Cleveland, Ohio, where David was appearing with a number of other celebrities at (of all things), a sports convention. As I walked up to his table, he stood, asked my name and shook hands with me. As soon as I told him who I was, he said, “I know you.”

Say what? I was reminded that a couple of years earlier David had been asked by Guy Williams, Jr., to autograph a photo as a gift to me for spearheading a fundraiser in memory of his dad. I sometimes forget where my keys are and this 79-year-old man remembered my name and the circumstances of a couple of years past?

We talked and I discovered an absolutely charming gentleman, generous with his time, and content with his life. He made me and everyone else who came by feel important. David had a wicked sense of humor, and it quickly became apparent he respected his past co-stars, especially Basehart, whom he credited with his growth as an actor.
While never a major star, Hedison did have some good exposure. He was the scientist in the original The Fly (the one who becomes part fly), the XO in The Enemy Below, and Felix Leiter in two James Bond movies. He guest-starred in many television shows including Love Boat, Fantasy Island, The Colbys, and Murder She Wrote. He admitted he took some roles “to pay the mortgage.”

Hedison loved the stage and that was obvious when I saw him perform. He didn’t miss a beat. I visited with him again when I went to MegaCon in Florida. He remained gracious and witty. He was grateful for all his roles, even Voyage, which often drifted toward silliness. I see a lot of David in his character Captain Crane, but then, acting, like writing, depends on at least some infusion of the persona of the individual into the fictional personalities he or she is playing or writing. Otherwise the character is flat.

David outlived his wife of almost fifty years and is survived by two daughters. He was 92 when he passed away in July. Like the Statler Brothers in their song, "The Movies," I, too, am grateful to Mr. Edison for his invention that allowed actors and actresses to let us escape into amazing and larger than life stories. And thank you, Mr. Hedison. You will not be forgotten.

Susan Kite is a member of AGT, has five published books which you can check out on https://www.amazon.com/default/e/B00J91G0ZU/ . You can read her earlier fan-fiction on https://archiveofourown.org/. Type "bookscape" in the search bar.