Ahead Warp Factor seven, Mr. Sulu

     I came to Science Fiction and Fantasy young. As a child I remember watching George Reeves' "Superman" and "Space Patrol" in B&W on TV. My Mother drug us kids to Drive-In movies a lot. I saw Sci-Fi. Well it was the 50's. "The Day The Earth Stood Still", "Destination Moon", "When Worlds Collide" and "The Time Machine". I discovered YA Sci-Fi. "A Wrinkle In Time". "Mrs. Pickerell Goes To Mars".
Comic Books.
 Having always read above my age I moved quickly to Ray Bradbury. I was done. His prose seized my heart and imagination. Bradbury set the bar for my love of language.
Ted Sturgeon. Robert Heinlein. Isaac Asimov. Arthur C. Clarke.
 As a lonely, unpopular boy I strode through the Stars with giants of the genre. I read the pulps. I devoured the shelves at the Whitehall branch of The Columbus Public Library. H.G. Wells. Lovecraft. Verne. I saw more cheesy B Sci-Fi movies. And the few good ones. "2001". "Fantastic Voyage.
On TV there was "Twilight Zone'. "Science Fiction Theater". "One Step Beyond". "The Outer Limits". And "Star Trek". Reading I found "The Hobbit and "Lord Of The Rings".
 I explored. Harlan Ellison. Stephen R. Donaldson. I rejected the call to move on and grow up. My first wife's ridicule of my tastes was probably one of many reasons she's an ex.
I found kindred spirits to talk with. We discussed Film. Books. Art. I learned to write from those I read and loved. My whole view of the world expanded. I developed eclectic tastes. Everything was possible.
Sci-Fi opened me to new thinking and ideas. That has served me well. Then came the SciFi Seventies. "Star Wars".  "Alien". "Star Trek". My love continues. The "Stargate" franchise. The multiple "Star Trek"series."X-Files","Fringe". Oh, "Doctor Who"
Sci-Fi expands our view of the Universe. Opens us to the wonders of what is and what can be. It inspires research. It inspires us. Infusing a hope for the future of Humanity in spite of our current state.
Yeah, I'm a nerd. A geek. I've been shaped by what I've read and viewed. A veteran of trips to places that exist only in my dreams. A faith in our future. Having boldly gone where no one has gone before.