Welcome To "Almost Famous By De's-Fault"

UPDATING MY VERY FIRST BLOG!!!

"Oh, joy..." (Dr. McCoy, STAR TREK IV: The Voyage Home.)


Someone told me I need a blogspot. Since I'm now officially older, and by God's grace incrementally wiser (a gen-u-ine senior citizen, at least chronologically), I'm in the habit of taking reasonable-sounding advice -- in this case from author Carolyn Howard-Johnson -- and will now, this minute, officially launch a blogspot.

And I will endeavor to add to it regularly, which wasn't the case at MySpace. (The reason being, I couldn't get it to go more than one time. I am blogspot challenged, perhaps.) If I can keep this one going, I shall.


The title of this blogspot may need an explanation. If you know much of anything about me and my background, you already "get" the punny nature of the title without an explanation, but for the rest of you -- where did you all come from?! How did you find me? What are you doing here?! Despite all these nosey questions: Welcome!


Back to the explanation. I became " somewhat famous" in STAR TREK (Original Series) convention circles back in about 1986 or so, and it was De's (DeForest Kelley's) fault. De ("Bones" McCoy on the series), his wife and I had been corresponding for some time (the Kelleys launched my writing career in 1969 by submitting to a national television magazine an article I had written about him). I had long since divested myself of earlier "reverential fan"-type letters and was writing them nonsensical, whimsical and downright DE-mented letters (to prove I was humorously "crazy about De") so at one of the Creation Conventions De introduced me to his very large fan audience as "Krazy Kris." De's officially unofficial fan club President, Sue Keenan, quickly adopted the appellation and began to refer to me as Krazy Kris in her fan club newsletter. So... I started to write reports (convention sightings of De) using the "Krazy Kris" byline for the newsletter, and appending to them such Krazy Kris asides as, "If the Kelleys would like to adopt an overgrown, aging child, I'm available and will even do dishes..."


From that time on -- long before I did a single TREK/McCoy stand-up routine at conventions -- I would walk into a hotel lobby at a far-flung TREK convention and total strangers (for the moment) would jostle one another, point in my direction, and say, "There she is..." I would look around, trying to discern who "she" was... until it dawned on me that I was the "she" they were talking about (blush). Who, me?! Good Lord!


Had NO idea why I was "she"... but I was! After saying hello and striking up a friendly conversation, I finally asked them who they thought I was! Their reply? "You're Krazy Kris, aren't you?"  Thanks, De. Thanks, Sue Keenan!


My first book (DeForest Kelley: A Harvest of Memories) was written from January through March of 2000 and debuted in November 2001 just two months after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (which is why so few folks learned of it until just this year during the 40th anniversary of TREK).


In retrospect, it must have been a foregone conclusion that my first "real" book would be about De because he had been so instrumental in my personal evolution and because somehow my association with him and Carolyn had evolved over the course of 30 years to the point where I became De's personal assistant and caregiver the last three months of his life. He gave me permission to write a book about him during those final months but, to tell the truth, I didn't really suppose I would: frankly, I wasn't sure my personal story would be of much interest to anyone but myself and my family...


In September 1999, three months after De's passing, his biographer Terry Lee Rioux asked me (while interviewing me for her biography of De, FROM SAWDUST TO STARDUST), "How did you go from being a fan, on the outermost reaches of fandom, to being at his bedside when he died?" -- and I didn't have an answer! She assured me, "Something must have happened to have him and Carolyn trust you enough to bring you in during the months he was dying. I think you somehow became a daughter to them, in spirit." That comment had me in tears in the restaurant where we were sitting! "Oh, no. Oh, no!" I protested. That was just too much for my still-grief-stricken soul to adopt as even an outside possibility.


She pursued the idea further. "Not just anyone is going to be asked into a situation where they are going to be assisting De as he approaches the final frontier of eternity, Kris. What happened over the years to make you that person? Think about it and get back to me. You need to know the answer as much or more than I do."


I truly did not have an answer then, or for quite some time after. With Terry's question and comments, it suddenly became ridiculously apparent to me that somehow a small miracle had occurred and I had been utterly oblivious to it!

So I went back into literally hundreds of old journals I had been keeping (since 1966, coincidentally, the year TREK first appeared!) and began to retrace the steps of the journey... and by the time my book came to an end, I had Terry's answer.


It had been quite an adventure, after all! And I had forgotten the lion's share of it! (That's why journaling is so important!)


And now fans of De's, new and old, can have the answer, too, inside two books created to extend and to share De's legacy of love with those who perhaps never had a chance to meet him "up close and personal."


And the adventure continues, by De's fault! I've become "almost famous" again recently as I've traveled around the nation to resurrect the memories lying in the hearts of De's fans and to spotlight his enduring legacy of love.


I have been, and will be, appearing at STAR TREK conventions intermittently for the foreseeable future to share my reminiscences of De with his fans. These are heart-warming gatherings -- and this is not an overstatement. We share laughter and tears at these events.


My next appearance is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, August 11th in Las Vegas at Creation Entertainment's STAR TREK Convention at the Hilton Hotel. You can find out more about the weekend at http://www.creationent.com/. (Click on the spinning wheel on STAR TREK when it comes into view and it will open to a page where you can click on Vegas 2007.) The guest line up is extensive. I'm not listed there yet as my appearance may be moved to another date and time. If you're coming to hear me, call or email Creation in early June and see if they can confirm the Saturday appearance date for me at that time.

You can find out more about my book (DeFOREST KELLEY: A HARVEST OF MEMORIES) at http://kristinemsmith.biz/.


You can buy Terry's biography of De (FROM SAWDUST TO STARDUST) and my book(s) at Amazon and other on-line bookstores as well.

STARTREK.COM has a lengthy interview with me written by Billie Rae Walker here:
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/features/specials/article/30875.html

Rick Dostie's Trek's in Sci Fi has a podcast inteview with me here: http://www.treksf.com/podcast/Treksf.com_79_Real_McCoy.mp3.


Then there are three special 40th anniversary Planet Xpo blogspots here:

Blog #23: Husband-Hunting on the Enterprise (humor; a stand-up routine about McCoy and the Enterprise NCC-1701 gang that I wrote and presented at cons in Oakland, Denver and Baltimore in the late 80's and 90's)


Blog #3: Excerpt from DeForest Kelley: A Harvest of Memories (humor/book excerpt)


Blog #2: Get to know DeForest Kelley through Kristine Smith! (serious -- TREK'S Enduring Legacy.)


STAR TREK MAGAZINE will run a brand new interview between Billie Rae Walker and me in the April or June issue.


If you haven't experienced your fill after all of the above links, check back to this blogspot often and find out what's new -- and whether I was able to make it go again!


DE-Lighted to make your acquaintance!


Not-so-Krazy-Kris


P.S. Oh! One more thing. These days I live back in Tacoma, Washington (my point of origin) and I'm a copywriter at http://www.kristinemsmith.elance.com/ .If you believe your own business can benefit my services, check out the link and peek inside my portfolio to see what I have to offer! Hope you like what you see there!