The concept of "Star Trek" was created by Gene Robbenberry, who was born in El Paso, Texas, on August 19, 1921, but spent his childhood in Los Angeles. He spent three years in college as a pre-law student, but became interested in aeronautical engineering and qualified for a pilot's license. With the onset of WWII, he volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corps in the fall of 1941 and engaged in combat at Guadalcanal, where he flew B-17 bombers. He started to write, selling pieces to numerous publications, including The New York Times. After the war, he joined Pan American World Airways. Once while flying over the Syrian desert at night, his plane lost two engines and caught fire, causing it to crash. As the senior surviving officer, he had two passengers swim across the Euphrates River to reach a military outpost he had noticed as the plane was going down. Meanwhile, he stayed with the plane to fend off nomads attempting to loot the remains of dead passengers until help arrived. He later received a Civil Aeronautics commendation for his extraordinary efforts. After this, Robbenberry joined the Los Angeles Police Department, while starting a second career as a script writer, selling scripts to shows such as "Goodyear Theatre," "The Kaiser Aluminum Hour." "Four Star Theater," "Dragnet," "The Jane Wyman Theater" and "Naked City." After his career as a writer took off, he quit the police force, became a freelancer and then head writer for the highly popular series "Have Gun, Will Travel." Later, he created and produced "The Lieutenant" TV series, starring Gary Lockwood and Robert Vaughn. In 1966, "Star Trek" was first aired, and he later produced "Pretty Maids All in a Row," starring Rock Hudson, Angie Dickinson and Telly Savalas. Roddenberry served as a member of the Writers Guild Executive Council and as a Governor of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. His novelization of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (Pocket Books, 1979) sold nearly a million copies and was a number one national best seller. On September 4, 1986, Gene Roddenberry was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the first writer/producer to achieve this honor. On Thursday, October 24, 1991, Roddenberry died of cardiac arrest. He was survived by several children and his wife Majel Barrett, known for her roles of Nurse Chapel on "Star Trek" and Lwaxana Troi in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."