It’s shaping up to be an eventful Dragon Con this weekend for Nichelle Nichols.
Nichols, who played Lt. Nyota Uhura in the original "Star Trek" TV series as well as in six subsequent movies, will be presented with a Guest of Honor award by Rep. John Lewis at the Dragon Con Awards Banquet on Saturday night, it was announced this week.
The 82-year-old actress also was announced earlier as the grand marshal of the annual Dragon Con parade on Saturday morning.
Each year, Dragon Con — the sci-fi, fantasy, pop culture and gaming convention that takes over five downtown Atlanta convention hotels every Labor Day weekend — recognizes an artist and author as its Guests of Honor. Occasionally, the convention also recognizes an actor.
Nichols is being honored for her groundbreaking role, starting in 1966, as strong bridge officer Uhura, one of the first African-American female characters on American television that was not a servant.
In June, Nichols was admitted to a Los Angeles-area hospital and treated for what was reported as a mild stroke.
She’s apparently feeling better.
This week, she posted on her Facebook page: "I am so excited to return to Dragon Con this weekend! Who is coming?"
Credit: hpousner
Credit: hpousner
Lewis has a connection to Dragon Con of his own.
He will appear at the convention for the second time this weekend, discussing “March: Book Two,” the second installment of his graphic memoir series. It was published early this year.
The best-selling “March: Book One” chronicled Lewis’ journey from his boyhood on his parents’ sharecropper farm in Alabama to his embrace of nonviolent resistance and lunch counter sit-ins.
"Book Two" covers the tumultuous period between 1960, when the movement met increasingly violent resistance, and the 1963 March on Washington,
Tickets for the Dragon Con Awards Banquet, 7-9:30 p.m. Saturday in the Hyatt Regency Atlanta's Regency Ballroom, are $65, available at convention registration. Information: dragoncon.org.
