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Celebrating Minnesota Star Trek stamp champion
Six decades ago today the Star Trek series launched on TV, eventually culminating in 13 movies and 13 TV series for fans that became known as "Trekkies." FOX 9’s Corin Hoggard has the story of one Minnesota man who created his own special "enterprise" over the decades.
(FOX 9) - Star Trek turns 60 Tuesday, and the franchise owes part of its place in American history to an 85-year-old retired English teacher from Sauk Rapids who refused to give up.
The man behind the mission
What we know:
Bill Kraft didn't initially follow the Star Trek TV series. It was a trip to the movies in 1979 that changed everything.
The Motion Picture turned the North Dakota native into a devoted fan.
"I was so enamored and so moved," said Bill Kraft, a Star Trek stamp champion. He went back and watched the original TV series and eagerly awaited movie sequels.
Then, Kraft set his sights on something bigger — getting the sci-fi franchise formal recognition in the form of a U.S. postage stamp.
"Stamps are more than visuals on envelopes, on letters," he said. "They tell us who we are, where we've been, where we want to go, what we aspire to become."
13 years of 'no'
Dig deeper:
Kraft started writing letters and making phone calls in 1985, but the U.S. Postal Service wasn't ready to move at warp speed.
The agency pushed back, telling him a Star Trek stamp wasn't possible.
"We can't do a Star Trek stamp because it's a commercial enterprise," Kraft said they told him. "People are making millions. The Postal Service can't endorse a personal enterprise because of the profit motive."
Still, he pressed on.
"Yeah, resistance is futile. And that's a bureaucracy. That's the way it works," he said. "You're at the point of no return. You quit now, it's all for nothing."
A three-pronged approach
Big picture view:
Kraft didn't go it alone. He built his case starting with endorsements from three of science fiction's biggest names.
"This is the letter that I got from Ray Bradbury in 1985," he said.
He then added Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke to his list of supporters.
"The three biggest luminaries in the science fiction galaxy at the time," said Kraft.
Next, he took the story to the media.
A USA Today feature that included his phone number sparked a flood of interest.
"I had phone calls from 42 states, England, Scotland and Canada," he said. "Everybody wanted to know how they could get involved in this." Those callers helped launch a petition that gathered thousands of signatures.
The day of deliverance
Why you should care:
After 13 years of hearing "no," Kraft finally got the answer he had been waiting for.
"Finally we get a 'yes,'" he said.
He remembers the exact moment it happened.
"I remember the exact day when that's when the fax machine came on," said Kraft. "July 8, 1998, 8:45 a.m., the day of deliverance."
As for what finally moved the Postal Service, Kraft had a simple theory: "I think they were tired of getting heat from us," he said.
120 million Star Trek 33-cent stamps went into circulation in 1999.
Forever stamps followed in 2016, which means the stories that captivated Kraft can carry the written word into the future of Captains Kirk, Picard, Janeway, and beyond.
"Star Trek went out physically to explore space," Kraft said. "That's the physical part of the final frontier, but it also went into the head and heart."