Denny Martin Flinn Denny Martin Flinn was an actor and author who co - wrote the screenplay for with Nicholas Meyer . He also wrote the Pocket TOS novel " The Fearful Summons " . Flinn had not been a " Trek " fan beforehand - in an audio commentary with Meyer on the of the film , he admitted that he at first envisioned an ending where the ship is handed over to Picard and his crew , not realizing that TNG took place seventy years and three " Enterprise " s in the future . It was Meyer , a personal friend of Flinn , who had brought him in on the movie as script - writer in the summer of 1990 . Not only did Meyer this on professional grounds , he needed help for the script , but Meyer figured that it could also be a means to get Flinn ' s mind off his battle with cancer , for which he received treatment at the time . ( " Star Trek Movie Memories " , 1995 , pp . 359 - 361 ) Flinn had been the principal writer on the movie ' s prologue , which would have established the whereabouts of the " Original Crew " , before they received the call to reassemble . Much to the dismay of everybody involved , the prologue had to be scrapped for budgetary reasons . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol 22 # 5 , p . 26 ) Flinn has an in - universe character named after him , Captain D . M . Flinn of . Career outside " Star Trek " . Flinn was born in San Francisco , California and was raised in both San Francisco and Los Angeles . He majored in theater at San Francisco State University , after which he moved to New York where he performed in a number of Broadway musical productions , including " Sugar " from April 1972 through June 1973 and revivals of " Hello , Dolly ! " and " Pal Joey " in the late 1970s . He also performed in and choreographed a number of off - Broadway productions . Flinn spent a year and a half performing in international tours of " A Chorus Line " and even wrote and directed his own play , called " Groucho " , which premiered off - Broadway and toured for two years . In addition , he performed with TNG guest star Theodore Bikel in a national production of " Fiddler on the Roof " . It was during this production that Flinn met his future wife , Barbara . As a choreographer , Flinn worked in film and television as well as theater . He and director Nicholas Meyer first worked together when Flinn choreographed Meyer ' s 1988 film " The Deceivers " , which led to the two collaborating on the script for " Star Trek VI " ( which Meyer also directed ) . Additionally , Flinn ' s choreography can be seen in sequences of the soap operas " Another World " and " Search for Tomorrow " and in an animated sequence of the hit 1990 film " Ghost " , starring Whoopi Goldberg and Vincent Schiavelli . Besides his one " Trek " novel , Flinn has also authored two mystery novels featuring the grandson of Sherlock Holmes ( " San Francisco Kills " and " Killer Finish " ) and a number of books on the entertainment world , including " What They Did For Love : The Untold Story Behind the Making of A Chorus Line " ( his first book ) and two " How Not To " books , " How Not To Write a Screenplay " and " How Not To Audition " . His work with Meyer on " Star Trek VI " was his only Hollywood screenplay ; for their efforts , both he and Meyer were nominated for a Saturn Award in Best Writing from the Academy of Science Fiction , Fantasy & Horror Films . Flinn later went on to adapt Meyer ' s novel , " The Seven - Per - Cent Solution " , as a BBC radio play . He also wrote a radio play for " Don Quixote " , which earned him a nomination from the British Writers ' Guild . Flinn died in Woodland Hills , California on 24 August 2007 , aged 59 . It was initially reported that he had apparently committed suicide , but a later report attributed his death to complications from cancer ( he was known to have suffered from throat cancer ) . He is survived by his wife , Barbara , and their two children , Brook and Dylan . His last two books , " Ready for My Close - Up ! : Great Movie Monologues " and " The Great American Book Musical , a Manual , a Manifesto , a Monograph " , were published posthumously .