Gene Roddenberry Defended His Female Writer
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D.C. Fontana, who wrote for the series, received fan mail addressed to “Mr. Fontana.” At the time it was almost unthinkable that D.C. Fontana was a woman, but in fact, she was.
Fontana started out as a secretary, but after Roddenberry asked for her assistance in revising some episodes, she soon became a regular contributor. After one of the network executives felt the need to call her and lecture her about one of her scripts, she told Roddenberry that it was unfair since none of the other writers got that treatment. Roddenberry called the executive back and came to Fontana’s defense saying, “You don’t mess with my writers.”
