Q&A with Nicholas Meyer: The Filmmaker and Author Discusses His Life and Legacy
The storyteller who saved both STAR TREK and Sherlock Holmes from extinction talks the origins of his creative life, three key artworks in his early oeuvre, and his legacy.
I don’t remember when I became aware that Nicholas Meyer existed, but I was very conscious of his work long before I knew his actual name. My gateway drug into his decades-long oeuvre that spans film, television, and books both fiction and non-fiction was, as it has been for many, STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982) — which he both wrote and directed, saving the franchise from likely extinction and redefining its relevancy for years to come. By this point, he had already done the same for Sherlock Holmes with his novel THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION (1974) and its adaptation for the big screen (1976), both of which fundamentally altered how the character would be depicted for decades to come by placing Holmes rather than the mystery at the heart of the story.
Years later, after my love affair with Nick’s work had grown far more robust, I was fortunate enough to become friends with him; since then, we’ve broken bread together on many occasions, giving me an opportunity to hear many of his stories (he’s a…
