“…the books that the fans jump up and down (about), and praise and cheer about how wonderful they are…they should have seen the original versions of them. And yet, do the authors say, ‘Well, this really isn’t entirely my story…the entire ending of this book was suggested to us through the Star Trek offices because the ending that we had for it didn’t work, but, no, I’m happy to sign it for you and take all the royalties—which we don’t get a penny of. That’s painful, when you see—especially when I go to conventions and see onstage somebody going on and on about this wonderful book they’ve written, and I know damn well that half the suggestions came from Gene…that made it work in the Star Trek format. And, again, any author’s going to disavow that, too…they’re going to completely disagree with it…‘It was all my own idea, sure.’

“Harlan’s taken accolades for ‘City’ for 25 years, and at the same time, behind Gene’s back, bitched and complained about it. He’s perfectly happy to take the royalties…he’s perfectly happy to be ‘the author of “The City on the Edge of Forever”’…and I love Harlan dearly, and if this ever gets back to him, believe me I’m going to get a phone call from him…’cause he and I have spoken many times over the years, and he has given me some very strong advice, about this sort of thing, not dealing with this sort of thing. But at the same time, he’s been very public, too. And Gene’s kept his tongue all this time, because Gene knows that if you’re going to continue to work with people, that you’ve got to stay on good terms with them.” (Richard Arnold interview copyright © 1991 by Tim Lynch)

If you’ve read the introductory essay to this book, you have seen the evidence that Arnold toadyingly got it all backwards…on purpose. It was Ellison who was restrained in his comments, and Roddenberry who lied endlessly.

Since Arnold states elsewhere in the interview that he has never been and never will be a writer, the first part of the above commentary smacks of extreme jealousy over those more talented receiving justly due accolades. The list of popular books with Paramount-dictated endings is never spelled out, possibly because they don’t exist; and possibly because, from the time Arnold first got a firmer grip on the novels, readers began to complain about a downswing in quality.