The Oklahoma Speculative Fiction Hall of Fame and its award “The Nucleon” were established by SoonerCon in 2013. Those selected for membership in the Hall of Fame are recognized for outstanding contributions to the development of pop culture and speculative fiction in both Oklahoma and the world at large.
Class of 2013
C J Cherryh is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy author. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, C J was raised primarily in Lawton, OK. She has written more than 60 books since the mid-1970s. She has won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, three Hugo awards for Best Novel and Best Short Story, and the Oklahoma Center for the Book’s Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
John Ferguson is perhaps better known by his horror host persona, Count Gregore. He first appeared in 1958 on WKY-TV in Oklahoma City. John is considered the longest-running horror host in the world, and has been extremely influential both locally and nationally among the horror-host genre.
Class of 2014
Dwight V Swain (1915-1992) was a writer who crossed many genres. First published in 1941, his publications spanned 6 decades. His stories covered the action, western, and SF&F genres. Later he joined the OU School of Journalism’s Professional Writing Program. He published several nonfiction books that are considered mainstays of the working writer. His widow, Joye Swain, accepted on his behalf.
Class of 2015
No inductees.
Class of 2016
Legendary actor Lon Chaney Jr (Creighton Chaney, 1906-1973) was born premature and stillborn in a cabin beside Oklahoma City’s Belle Isle Lake. The attending doctor broke the lake’s ice and plunged the infant into the water, shocking him to life. Against his famous father’s wishes, Chaney entered films in 1932, gaining great acclaim in 1939’s Of Mice and Men. He entered Silver Scream immortality with The Wolf Man (1941) and remains the only actor to portray Universal’s “big four” of creatures, also playing Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and the Mummy in a career that included nearly 200 roles. This beloved Oklahoman’s Nucleon was accepted on his behalf by his grandson Ron Chaney, President of Chaney Entertainment.
Class of 2017
No inductees.
Class of 2018
Lloyd Lee Barnett lives and works in Hollywood, California and his hometown, Oklahoma City. He has an extensive resumé of film and television work, including two Academy Award winners for visual effects, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Avatar. He has a deep love for science fiction and horror. Bierce, Poe, Lovecraft, Serling, Blackwood, Beaumont, Asimov, and Bradbury are among his favorite authors.
Besides his extensive visual-effects work, Lloyd has written and directed several films that have acquired distribution. All his movies are in the realm of science fiction, fantasy, and horror: Ninja Apocalypse; Lily and the Syphon, aka I Love You to Death, and the short film The Cooks. His recent work includes a TV pilot anthology, shot in Oklahoma City. Lloyd is currently in pre-production for his third feature film, as yet unnamed. You can be sure that it will have massive visual effects work, and it will be shot in Oklahoma City.
Lloyd loves work that brings him to his home state, to be with his children and wonderful wife, Dallas. In 2013 Lloyd and Dallas made Oklahoma City their primary home. He looks forward to strengthening the film industry in his home state, especially in the arenas of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Class of 2019
No inductees.
Class of 2020
Postponed due to COVID-19
Class of 2021
Cancelled due to COVID-19.
Class of 2022
Researcher, author, web host, and native Oklahoman Larry Nemecek moved to Los Angeles and Trekland a quarter-century ago with his wife and family. His amateur self-published TNG series was adopted by the Star Trek: The Next Generation staff as source material and was published as The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion.
These days, Larry hosts The Trek Files weekly podcast; has launched his unique PORTAL 47 background fan experience—”where no savvy fan has gone before”—and leads his own Trekland Treks day tours of Trek film locations around L.A., when pandemics are not raging.
After hosting “Trekland Tuesdays LIVE” commentary and chat each week since 2017, Larry also now co-hosts a streamer borne of the pandemic: “Life Support LIVE”, a merger of Star Trek and mental health, where he helps viewers Go Boldly Through Uncertain Times with his co-host Dr. Ali Mattu (Netflix and HBO, YouTube channel “The Psyche Show”).
Fans are also excited for his official Star Trek: Stellar Cartography map/book set, while backgrounders love the first five “Trekland: On Speaker” themed editions (available on CD), culled from his hundreds of hours of remastered archival Trek back-in-the-day interviews.
The longtime former editor of ST Communicator magazine and Fact Files now takes global Trek fans backstage every month with the pioneering PORTAL 47 live/online insider deep-dive package, and leads customized day tours Trek’s on-location film sites around LA for fans as TREKLAND TREKS. Larry also hosts Trekland Tuesdays LIVE each week on his YouTube channel, plus weekly visits as host of The Trek Files from Roddenberry Podcasts. His own documentary The Con of Wrath, recalling the infamous 1982 Trek event meltdown in Houston, is in post-production.
Along with story credit for the “Prophecy” episode of Voyager and working as a producer at the original startrek.com, Larry still writes his “Fistful of Data” column for the official Trek Magazine and appears frequently on podcasts, as well as the CBS Star Trek Blu-ray documentaries and audio commentaries. He’ll also be happy to tour you through the Will Rogers State Historic Park ranch house where he’s a docent—and now member of the nonprofit Will Rogers Ranch Foundation … or just preach the legacy of his Oklahoma Sooners football legends.