Mere days after Skeptical Inquirer's publication of my cover article on Richard Hoagland and the "Face on Mars," I received a curious e-mail from Harlan Ellison's office requesting that I fax my mailing address and telephone number to the provided fax number. Moments later, I was on the phone with none other than the main man himself!

As I think to add this page to my website so many years later, I wish I could recall more details than I do, including how/why Ellison had authorized Hoagland's subtitle for his book, The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever, which readers may recognize as the title of the original Star Trek series' most acclaimed episode. But over the couse of our 10-or-so-minute conversation, in addition to expressing his thanks for the content and quality of my writing, Ellison gave me a highly abridged accounting of how his original award-winning script was eviscerated by Gene Roddenberry et al. during its molding into the final award-winning teleplay.

And a few days later, I received in the mail an inscribed (erroneously referring to Mars's "Smiley Face") copy of Ellison's book containing his original script and all the details surrounding the bitter controversy and ensuing feud between him and Roddenberry:

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