Richard Arnold

Richard Arnold straddled the precarious line between fan, official Paramount employee, and as a constant con Guest of Honor. He had been introduced to fandom by his mother, Denny Arnold. from From Sawdust to Stardust: The Biography of DeForest Kelley, Star Trek's Dr. McCoy. by Terry Lee Rioux, Simon and Schuster, 2005 
A nearly full-time, unpaid consultant from 1977 until 1986, he became a Paramount paid employee in 1986. Arnold is, in essence, a fannish cautionary tale.
He was a controversial member of Star Trek fandom, generating much discussion and conflict regarding his comments about fandom, especially in relation to the pro books, who "spoke for Star Trek" and what was canon, fandom and profit, mutual profiteering, and power.
"Arnold's vetting became infamous for a series of arbitrary and counter-intuitive decrees restricting novels, comic books, and games and technical developments, resulting in the nickname "Melakon"." Richard Arnold at Memory Alpha Wiki 
See more about this topic at (11 Jun 2004). 
Richard Arnold passed away 26 January 2021. 
Shortly after Arnold's death, Rod Roddenberry (Gene's son) said: 
==Fan Activities==
* president of the Grace Lee Whitney Fan Club
* contributor of fanworks to zines: The Nest Egg (early 1970s), Clipper Trade Ship (1983-89), Fantasia (1978), Images and Dreams (1986), The Lighter Side Strikes Back (1983)
* president of There and Back Again (beginning in 1972)
==Attendee and Guest of Honor at Conventions==
As of late 1990, Arnold had attended 160 conventions. "Timecon 1990 will be his 160th convention." - from the Timecon 1990 program book 
==About Arnold: 1988==
From a 1988 article in the "Chicago Tribune" (newspaper): 
==About Arnold: 1989==
Arnold, a very frequent guest of honor at cons, had a bio and photo in the third Sol III program book. In it was mentioned that he'd recently attended (as regular guest and as a guest of honor) his one-hundredth con. 
Image:soliii1989arnold-1.jpg|from the 1989 Sol III program book
Image:soliii1989arnold-2.jpg|from the 1989 Sol III program book
==About Arnold: 1990==
From the 1990 Timecon program book:
==About Arnold: 1992==
From Star Trek Action Group #103 : 
==Arnold on Arnold, & Star Trek: 1991==
On September 9, 1991, "The Richard Arnold Interview" by Timothy Lynch appeared on Usenet's rec.arts.startrek. Some of the topics of the interview: view of his own role, the history and origins, the films, the fanzines and the professionally published tie-in novels.
The Richard Arnold Interview, Part 1 "This is part 1 of the interview with Richard Arnold, dealing with mostly general questions and topics; who he is, what he does, etc."
 
The Richard Arnold Interview, Part 2 "This is part 2 of the interview with Richard Arnold, dealing with computer networks, a problem he had with the USS Avenger recently, and with the question of canon."
The Richard Arnold Interview, Part 3: "This is part 3 of the interview with Richard Arnold. This section deals with general problems between him and some Trek authors (Margaret Wander Bonanno, Peter David, Brad Ferguson, etc.). [Specific allegations will come up in parts 4 and 5.]"
The Richard Arnold Interview, Part 4: "This is part 4 of the interview with Richard Arnold. Both this part and the next part deal with specific allegations made by authors against Richard and Richard's responses to them."
The Richard Arnold Interview, Part 5: "This is the fifth and final part of the interview with Richard Arnold, containing more allegations and responses with respect to Richard and several Trek authors. A post containing impressions and commentary will follow."
Margaret Bonanno's reaction to the interview
See also her 2002 essay This is the tale of PROBE: The Novel I Didn't Write
==Meta/Further Reading==
* (11 Jun 2004)
* (2021) 
* comments at ‘Strange New Worlds’ Co-Showrunner Henry Alonso Meyers On Updating ‘Star Trek’ Characters (May 1, 2022)
==References==
Category:Fans
Category:2021 Deaths
Category:Deceased