A Piece of the Action/Issues 51-60

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==Issue 51==
A Piece of the Action 51 was published in June 1977 and contains 12 pages.
* there is an announcement that the actor who played Cyrano Jones has passed away
* a fan who had a flyer in a previous issue for "Anshell Miniatures" says he cannot keep up with demand and asks fans to be patient with their orders
* there is an ad for The Tsytsean Chronicles
* there is an ad for Diamonds and Rust
* there is a full-page ad for "The Outer Limits: An Illustrated Review" sold by Ted C. Rypel
* this issue contains a full-page flyer Phoenix Fan Convention (August 26–28, 1977)
==Issue 52==
A Piece of the Action 52 was published in July 1977 and contains 12 pages.
* Dear Grace Lee has this nugget of wisdom: a fan writes in and gushes about how pretty Whitney is; her answer: "In my experience, the pretty people are the nice people. It takes a great deal of energy, time, and discipline to be attractive and the people who care about themselves usually care most about other people." She also says she loved Star Wars but turns it around and says fans should write in and plug the new Star Trek movie
* speaking of Star Trek, there is a very long favorable review of Star Wars
* this issue has an ad for United Federation of Planets Journal
* there is a full-page flyer for Trek
* this issue has insert for Phoenix Con
* there is a very short con review for Star Con Denver 1977
* there is an ad from boojums Press that says it is selling its zines for $4.00 a pound (plus twenty-five cents bookrate)
* this issue has an ad for Diamonds and Rust
* there is a fannish warning out for someone selling certificates advertised as something called "First Church of the United Federations of Planets," however, you can purchase some Star Trek stationary in "9 different designs in 7 colors" from another fan
* and on the subject of money where money can be had, a fan notes that some Bonanza restaurants have a trivia question that asks, "Captain James Kirk commanded the starship...?" If you answer correctly, you can win twenty-five cents, a soft drink, or a dessert
==Reactions and Reviews: Issue 52==
==Issue 53==
A Piece of the Action 53 was published in Aug 1977 and contains 8 pages.
* there is a request for any fan who witnessed an incident between Susan Sackett and a Los Angeles Convention Center Guard to call Susan
* there is a three full pages of flyers for Enterprise Incidents by Jim Van Hise
* Dear Grace Lee answers a question from a fan about why a celebrity guest at a con went home a day early; she says that some con promoters cheat the stars, and leaving early is the stars' only way to take a stand. The other question is about how she deals with hypocrisy and she answers: "I deal with hypocrisy by exposing it... and sometimes I lose -- like when Yeoman Rand was written out!"
* while the STW zine auction was a huge success, it was also a lot of work and full of miscommunication—some interesting facts: 
==Reactions and Reviews: Issue 53==
==Issue 54==
A Piece of the Action 54 was published in September 1977 and contains 8 pages.
* there is a full-page flyer advertising, and introducing, Interstat
* Dear Grace Lee answers the question of why she writes of female erotica in her music, and of who her male idols are (D.H. Lawrence, Arthur Miller, and Henry Miller)
* there is an ad which tells fans they can buy the Miller and Landon artwork from The Night of the Twin Moons in "a folio suitable for framing"; the cost is thirty-five cents plus one thirteen cent stamp
* the show Logan's Run debuts: "Dorothy Fontana stresses that it is a good series, and that Star Trek fans will enjoy it"
* there is an ad for Sol Plus and for Epilogue
* this has art by Cheree Cargill, Laura R. Virgil, Earlene S. Benson, Tim Estiloz and Michael Goodwin
==Issue 55==
A Piece of the Action 55 was published in October 1977 and contains 8 pages.
* there is a rare (for this publication) personal statement by Bjo Trimble: "Bjo Trimble would like all doubters to know, once & for all, that Dorothy Jones Heydt does, indeed, get her fair share of royalties collected from The Star Trek Concordance sales."
* "Dear Grace Lee" says she was a born-again Christian, converted to Judaism at age 14, then to atheism at age 30 and feels that religion on the Enterprise was "nonpartisan." She also addresses using too much logic in life: "Logic is man made and therefore fallible Find your own beat and walk to it! Spock was a figment of an imagination and therefore not what he appears -- plus he was a Vulcan male and therefore desensitized."
* there is an ad for Menagerie , "the cheapo trekzine"
* there is an ad for The Human Factor, issues #1, #2, and #3
* the editors announce that they have set up an "APOTA Guarantee Fund" of $4000. "This money is set aside in a no-activity account to be used only to fulfill APOTA subscriptions if we should project an end to publishing..."
* there is an announcement of the STW Blind Services Department: 
* there is an ad for the pro book "The Making of Star Trek Conventions, or How to Hold a Party for 12,000 of Your Most Intimate Friends": 
* This issue has a prominent warning to fans who may be interested in writing Star Wars (which had just been released a few months earlier) fiction. This warning doesn't appear to have any basis in example, something the notice mentions. It may be an attempt to keep fans within the Star Trek fandom and an example of the early tensions between the fandoms. It may be a brag by ST fans, pointing out that Roddenberry had been a benign PTB. Or it may have been much more a friendly warning, one with no hidden motives. The text: 
==Issue 56==
A Piece of the Action 56 was published in November 1977 and contains 6 pages.
* there is an announcement that Phil Foglio has won a Hugo
* the quote of the month, astonishingly, one from Star Wars: "I find you lack of faith disturbing."
* Bjo Trimble grumbles about why Star Wars robots and Darth Vader get their footprints in the cement in from of Mann's Theater and Star Trek didn't
* there is a report that a Star Trek fan, and head of a fan club in Houston has been put in prison for "mail fraud and false names statutes"; he offered Star Trek episodes to fans by mail and used the name "Spock"
* there is a report of a letter by Robert Heinlein that takes on "environmentalists who are trying to put a stop to the space shuttle flights out of Southern California"
* there is art by C. Lee Healy and A. Nony Mous
==Issue 57==
A Piece of the Action 57 was published in Dec 1977 and contains 6 pages.
* the big news is an announcement of the on-and-off subject of Star Trek returning to television: this issue notes that the show is happening; while many of the original stars would be returning, it does not mention Leonard Nimoy; it says that the first script has been written by Gene Roddenberry and that the show would air mid-November 1978; this show, of course, did not ever air in this form
* the Dear Grace Lee column is a complete rerun of the last issue and focuses on where she gets her ideas for songs
* there is a roster of "Welcomittee Members at ST America" and at Philadelphia Star Trek Con
* the mail room reports, via Mary Louise Dodge, that there were only 135 letters in October 1977
* there is an ad for Parted from Me ("a cleanzine -- no age limit")
* the STW hasn't, nor has it done so for a while, printed a list of zines published, nor of fannish activities
* there is an ad for a "Trekker" necklace: "By wearing a genuine pewter medallion tastefully stating your identity. It can be worn to conventions or anywhere, and is an excellent way to meet other people who share your interests and attitudes." 
* there is an ad for Gerry Downes' lithographs of Star Trek art
==Issue 58==
A Piece of the Action 58 was published in Jan 1978 and contains 8 pages.
* there is the usual short and vapid Dear Grace Lee column
* there is an ad for Never and Always
* there is an announcement that Helen Young will only be coming back as, if even that, as "Advisor"
* there is a short roster of STW fans attending four cons
* the newsletter prints a hypothetical letter, one that is an example of many they receive and gives advice; the most important advice is to reassure the fan she or he is not alone and to offer up ways for that fan to connect with others
* there is a long article by Joan Verba entitled "The Neofan's Guide to Purchasing Fanzines" and it offers some very practical advice
* there is a full-page ad for William Shatner "Live", "a thrilling 2-record album. The story of science fiction from the beginning of man and exclusive never-before-told 'inside' stories of the Star Trek years. Recorded 'live' on a record-breaking cross-country tour."
* the big news: the jerking around and inconsistency of information, not a new thing: 
==Issue 59==
A Piece of the Action 59 was published in Feb 1978 and contains 8 pages.
* there are five con announcements, two of which are for Star Con Denver and T'Con
* this issue has two zine ads, one for The Trekker Cookbook and one for Archives
* Dear Grace Lee answers these questions: her hair will be different in the new TV series [which never happened], she would like to fly on the space shuttle, she would die if she couldn't create music, she thrives at conventions ("They feed me!"), and in the first script of the new TV series [again, which never happened], Janice Rand is given a promotion to "Chief Rand of the Transporter Room."
* there is a long, very positive review, along with some small art by Laura Virgil, of Close Encounters of the Third Kind
* this issue has an article called "STW Mailbag: The Letter with 1000 Questions" by Joan Verba. It she describes some letters the STW receives that are filled with many questions, some very trivial (pass them along to the technical books and pro books), some lonely (pass them along to the pen pal department): 
* there is an article about The STW Editors and Writers Exchange: 
==Issue 60==
A Piece of the Action 60 was published in March 1978 and contains 16 pages.
* this issue starts off with a long, long letter from Gene Roddenberry about the new movie, and how the fans' unrelenting activities and efforts of the last eight years made it happen; he notes that the new television show was canceled as it was "bound to suffer in any comparison with the big-budget Star Wars and Close Encounters; the letter is dated January 6, 1978
* Shirley Maiewski reports that the old Commodore Hotel, site of many conventions, was being torn down
* Dear Grace Lee answers two questions: does she like to read science fiction and does she support the space program
* Bjo Trimble writes a long, long article about Fred Silverman, the new president of NBC
* there is a review of the magazine, "Future," which is a new companion zine to Starlog
* there is a notice that Flo Dubowitz, editor of the STW Directory, has resigned and that Allyson Whitfield is taking her place
* the mail room received 243 letters in January 1978
* there is a long article by Laura Virgil called "Symphonic Science Fiction" about how "a new trend in symphony concerts seems to be the philharmonic applications to science fiction/fantasy music. Currently, around the country, many metropolitan philharmonic and symphony orchestras are presenting concerts based on musical scores from... Star Wars and Close Encounters, with added orchestrations of 2001 and The Planets."
* a fan reports that at a 1977 appearance by Gene Roddenberry in Niagara Falls, a fan asked him if Star Fleet Command would ever bring charges against Kirk for the 742 deaths of Federation people (accidental and otherwise) throughout the 79 episodes of the show
* reflecting ST fans' interest in the space program, there is report by Stephen E. Clarke called "NASA Notes"
* all art in this issue is by Laura Virgil and Cheree Cargill
* there is a long plea to save Forrest Ackerman's collection: 
==References==
Category:Star Trek TOS Non-fiction Zines
Category:1977 Zines
Category:1978 Zines