Dorothy Catherine Fontana (March 25, 1939 – December 2, 2019) was an American television script writer and story editor, best known for her work on the original Star Trek series and several Western television series. After a short period working for Samuel A. Peeples as a secretary, Fontana moved to work for Del Reisman, a producer on The Lieutenant, whose creator was Gene Roddenberry. Though The Lieutenant was soon cancelled, Roddenberry began working on Star Trek, and Fontana was appointed as the series' story editor, but left after the second season to pursue freelance work. She later worked with Roddenberry again on Genesis II and then as story editor and associate producer on Star Trek: The Animated Series. During the 1970s and early 1980s, she worked on Logan's Run, The Fantastic Journey, The Six Million Dollar Man, and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Roddenberry hired Fontana to work on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but, while she was given an associate producer credit, the experience soured their relationship and resulted in a claim put to the Writers Guild of America. She later wrote an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and an episode of the Star Trek fan-made series Star Trek: New Voyages. Fontana was inducted into the Museum of Pop Culture's Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. She was also awarded the Morgan Cox Award in 2002 by the Writers Guild of America, and was twice named to the American Screenwriters Association's hall of fame. Early life Born in Sussex, New Jersey, Fontana was raised in Totowa, New Jersey, graduating from Passaic Valley Regional High School in 1957. Fontana decided at the age of 11 that she wanted to become a novelist. During her youth, she wrote horror stories featuring herself and her friends. She attended Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she graduated with an associate degree as an Executive Secretarial major. After she graduated from college, she went to New York City, where she got a job working at Screen Gems as the junior secretary to the president of the studio. Shortly after his death, she returned to her home state briefly then moved to Los Angeles. She gained employment in the typing pool at Revue Studios, working as the secretary to writer Samuel A. Peeples during his time on the Western television series Overland Trail. When the series was canceled, Peeples and Fontana moved on