Eric James Stone's Photos

Hailing frequencies open...

This picture of me with Nichell Nichols was taken at a Slanted Fedora convention in Buffalo, New York, in 1998. At the same dinner "Dinner With the Stars" event where I met James Doohan. She autographed the photo a few months later in at a con in Tucson, Arizona.

Nichelle has an interesting story about why she didn't quit Star Trek after the first season as she had thought about doing. Apparently she met Martin Luther King, and when he heard she was thinking of leaving the show, he asked her not to because she was an important role model for black women.

Now, you may notice in this picture that she is wearing a replica of the necklace in the movie Titanic. This is because Patricia Tallman was using the necklace as a fundraiser for charity, by having it worn by various actresses before auctioning it off.

I canna change the laws of physics!

This picture of me with James Doohan was taken at a Slanted Fedora convention in Buffalo, New York, in 1998. In the evening, there was a "Dinner With the Stars" event, which allowed the fans to mingle with the guests and get photos. He autographed the photo a few months later in at a con in Tucson, Arizona.

During his time on stage, James Doohan told some stories about his life. I had never noticed during the TV show or movies that he was missing a finger, but I noticed it in real life. He lost it due to injuries he suffered while leading his men into battle on D-Day. (You can read a short bio of James Doohan here.)

It's not every day that you learn one of your TV heroes is a real-life hero.

Last Chase

This is the final picture in my series with Chase Masterson. It was taken in 2000 (I think) at the Grand Slam convention in Pasedena, California. She signed it just this last August in Las Vegas.

More Chase

This is my second photo with Chase Masterson. It was taken at a convention in Tucson, Arizona in 1998. You'll notice that I'm wearing a different Starfleet uniform in this picture. (And it's also different from the one I'm wearing in my photo with William Shatner.)

That's right: I have three different Starfleet uniforms.

After all, I wouldn't want people seeing me wear the same uniform I had at the previous convention. What a fashion faux pas that would be!

My First Star Trek Photo

My first couple of Star Trek conventions were in Houston while I was going to law school. They were fan-run conventions with no actors as guests.

After I moved to Washington, D.C., I went to my first major Star Trek convention, and it was at that convention that I met my first Star Trek actor: Chase Masterson. (I think it was 1997.)

Chase played Leeta the Dabo girl on Deep Space 9. It was a fairly minor recurring role that got bigger as time went on.

Because she was not a "headliner" star, she took time to chat with the fans as she signed autographs, and she was happy to do photos. I've met her at several conventions since that first one, and she's always been friendly to the fans. (In fact, I think I've seen Chase at more conventions than anyone except Marina Sirtis.)

Chase recently released a CD on which she sings various torch song classics. The CD is called Thrill of the Chase, and it's available from her fan club website. I'm not particularly a fan of jazz music, but she's got a very good voice and she performs the songs well.

(And yes, I'm a member of her fan club.)

Logical

This was taken at a Creation convention in Phoenix in 1998 (or 1999 -- I'm not 100% sure. I'll have to look it up.)

This was back in the days before conventions were selling photo-op tickets.

Apparently the convention promoters hadn't sold as many autographs for Leonard Nimoy as they had expected. So, as the autograph line was winding down, they were still trying to get people to buy additional autograph tickets (and they had a fairly large stack.)

Having already gotten his autograph, I waited until there were only about five people left in line, then I said that I'd buy a ticket if I could get a photo with him instead of an autograph. They said that was fine with them if it was OK with him.

It was.

My photo with Jeri Ryan

I just found this photo today while going through the boxes I brought over from my parents' basement a few weeks ago; I thought I'd lost it.

This was taken at a convention in Boston in July 1998. As you can see, Jeri was nice enough to look at the camera and smile for the photo.

Now, a photo taken like that didn't cost me anything. (Yes, I paid for convention admission and for the autograph, but I paid nothing extra for the photo.) But when it comes to major stars I actually prefer the paid photo ops.

Why? Less stress.

With the photo ops, I know I'm going to get the picture. I don't have to worry about finding someone to actually take the picture. I don't have to think about whether one of the convention promoters is going to step in to stop photo-taking in order to speed up the autograph line.

Anyway, enough about that. You want to know about Jeri's convention appearance.

Unfortunately, I can't remember very many details, since it was several years ago. I do remember that she auctioned off (for charity) a couple of the Borg items she had worn on the show. I also remember that a woman asked her a question implying that the character of Seven of Nine was degrading to women, and as I recall she handled it pretty well, pointing out that Seven's character was intelligent and strong-willed.

My Ultimate Star Trek Souvenir

I've chosen to start my photo blog with what I used to call my "Holy Grail" of Star Trek souvenirs. I started getting my photo with Trek stars about six years ago. Getting photos with stars of lesser magnitude was not too hard, but since William Shatner only appeared at major conventions, I doubted I would get a chance to get a posed picture with him.

Then, some of the convention promoters began to offer "photo ops" with the stars, and so last March at a convention in Pasedena, I was able to get my picture taken with him. In August, I was able to get it autographed at a convention in Las Vegas.