Sondra Marshak

Marshak was born to Albert Hassan and Anna Tornheim in 1942.[1] Little is known of her early life. In an interview for Voyages of Imagination (2006) by Jeff Ayers, Myrna Culbreath explained that Marshak had earned a master's degree in history, with "straight-A honors," prior to their meeting, and that Marshak had planned to enter a doctoral program.[4] She married LSU professor Alan Marshak, and had one son.[2]

Following her introduction to Star Trek, Marshak began writing fiction based on the series, and submitted it to fanzines which led to her meeting Jacqueline Lichtenberg. Upon being introduced to Star Trek, she was struck by the "powerful relationship between Kirk and Spock and the focus on moral and philosophical issues."[4] Marshak's first fan-published work was a re-write of Spock's Decision, originally written by Lichtenberg in 1971. The rewrite was anthologized in the fanzines Berengaria #2 (January 1974) and Kraith Collected #4 (June 1974).[5][6] Her other writings were set in the Kraith universe which was loosely based on Star Trek.

During the mid-to-late 70's, Marshak and her writing partner Myrna Culbreath were regular guests of honor at science fiction conventions. She was often joined on-stage by her mother, whom she addressed as "Mama-Anna".[7][2]

Marshak is an avowed Objectivist (a devotee of Ayn Rand), and she believes Star Trek advances objectivist ideals.[8]

Marshak's first professional publication was the reference work Star Trek Lives! (1975), co-written with Lichtenberg and Joan Winston. The ninth chapter, "Do-It-Yourself Star Trek," discussed structure and themes in fan fiction and how they may reflect the cultural and sexual ideas of the fans who write them. The book, and in particular the book's final chapter, inspired Francesca Coppa to call Marshak and her fellow authors "the foremothers of 'fanfiction scholarship'" in The Fanfiction Reader (2017).[9]

Marshak co-wrote six Star Trek tie-in books with her writing partner, Myrna Culbreath, in addition to the William Shatner biography Shatner: Where No Man… (December 1979). In Voyages of Imagination, both Culbreath and Marshak described their writing partnership as "virtually a Vulcan mind-meld."[4] She also contributed trivia to The Star Trek Puzzle Manual (1976) by Jeff Razzi.

In the author's notes for The Fate of the Phoenix (1979), several projects were listed as forthcoming. In addition to follow-ups to The New Voyages series, Marshak and Culbreath announced a fictional travel guide, Mr. Spock's Guide to the Planet Vulcan, a new novel co-written by Nichelle Nichols, Uhura!, and a non-Star Trek science fantasy novel co-written by William Shatner, The Power. None of the books were realized, nor published if completed.[10]

Marshak has not published any new fiction since 1983, nor has she given any interviews since 2006. She was interviewed by the Orange County Business Journal in 2000 where she promoted Culbreath's PhonicsOpoly (1999) reading game.[11] In 2012, Jacqueline Lichtenberg wrote a comment to a blog written by literary critic Steve Donoghue concerning Marshak's lack of an online presence.[12]

• Sondra Marshak at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Authors: Sondra Marshak at The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
• Sondra Marshak at Goodreads.