FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thousand Oaks, CA – Author, inventor, and co-writer of the iconic Star Trek episode “The Tholian Web,” Chester L. Richards continues his acclaimed Treks Beyond the Great Potato memoir series with "The Trek Continues: More Memoirs of a Rocket Scientist," releasing worldwide October 7, 2025.

In this second volume, Richards expands on the journey he began in From the Potato to Star Trek and Beyond, blending pulse-pounding adventure with poignant reflections on life, love, and loss. From near-death experiences with crocodiles in Africa to a white-knuckle flight back home in California, The Trek Continues dives deep into the real-life escapades of a man who helped imagine the universe onscreen—and then went out and lived it.

Richards shares what it meant to survive, to grieve, and to grow. Central to the memoir is his late wife Sarah, a brilliant and spirited presence readers first glimpsed in Book 1. Responding to fan letters asking to learn more about her, Richards infuses this new collection with her voice, her stories, and the extraordinary impact she had on his life. There are also stories of eccentric animals (including cats, a dog named Hector, and a horse—almost), scientific breakthroughs in aerospace and on earth, close calls with Neolithic tribes, and the unexpected wisdom of failure.

“Every story is a letter of love to Sarah,” Richards writes. “Each stand on its own. Each is an adventure. And each is true.”

Known for his witty, self-deprecating style and cinematic detail, Richards proves again that memoir can be both thrilling and intimate. A scientist by training and adventurer by instinct, he invites readers to see life not as a linear path—but as a series of treks, each one worth telling.

“Adventure starts when your gut clenches and you do it anyway,” says Richards. “That’s when you find out who you really are.”

ISBN (Paperback): 9781880882344 – $19.99
ISBN (Hardcover): 9781880882351 – $34.99
ISBN (eBook): 9781880882368 – $5.99

"The Trek Continues: More Memoirs of a Rocket Scientist" is published by Pawpress. The book is now available in paperback, hardcover, and eBook for pre-order on Amazon. Advanced review copies may be requested through NetGalley.    
 
About the Author

Chester L. Richards is a retired aerospace engineer and inventor with nineteen patents, and a new one pending. While still in college, he co-wrote “The Tholian Web,” one of the most beloved episodes of the original Star Trek. He went on to lead a life of exploration and innovation—surfing Southern California, navigating deadly rapids in different locales, including Ethiopia in the midst of a civil war, and designing technologies for space exploration. He is the author of From the Potato to Star Trek and Beyond and The Trek Continues, and has had more than fifty essays published, so far. He lives in Thousand Oaks, California, where he writes, plays music, and reflects on a life well lived and still boldly going. To learn more, visit: his website.

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I don't like to brag, but it sure feels good to know you like my book, Dear Readers! I do hope that you are having fun with the stories. And that perhaps here and there one of my adventures inspires you to try a new opportunity, to take a chance, explore the unknown, and have an exhilarating experience yourself! Or turn what seems an ordinary moment into an extraordinary one by simply shifting your perspective.

And I'd love to hear from you. Other people's stories intrigue me. It's fascinating to hear different points of view, and learn of things I haven't heard of myself.

So please send me a note here, or visit me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter/X. I post new photos of places I've visited near and far, new happenings in our astonishing world of science, space and rockets often. And I love sharing with followers oddments in music, language and all the arts as an article, piece of art or language bit calls out to me.

One last thought. We authors thrive on reviews. Please visit the website of the place from which you purchased my book, and jot what it was that you felt about it.

Thank you so much.

Thanks to all who have been buying my book From The Potato to Star Trek and Beyond.  I am so grateful and hope you enjoy reading about my adventures as much as I enjoyed having, and writing about them.

New review:

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Without hesitation, I wholeheartedly recommend The Potato to Star Trek and Beyond: Memoirs of a Rocket Scientist with its shining 5-star rating. It is a captivating read that will leave a lasting impression on any reader fortunate enough to embark on this heartfelt journey."
---Julia K. Goodman

In this video, Chester shares a riveting story from his first trip down the Grand Canyon in 1974, another time when he almost got killed. A bit of background, from "The Cliff," in his book:

"Sam was average in height and deeply bronzed. His long, well groomed, sandy hair hung down almost to his waist and his face was swathed in a similarly long sun bleached beard. He wasn't wearing much — a ragged pair of gym shorts with patches of skin showing through, and a colorful bandana tied over his head. There was little to distinguish this Trip Captain from the rest of his piratical appearing crew. Except for his crown. Snugged down over his bandana was a large, battered, broad brimmed hat of dubious origin and considerable character.

"Legend has it Sam was moseying down the road one day when he came to an intersection with a sign reading Sam Street. This, he thought, was a most excellent name. So he went to the Court House and became Sam Street...

"This trip we were on was all about The River — the Colorado River. We were gathered, nearly five decades ago, under Sam's leadership for a voyage through the depths of the Grand Canyon. Sam's command was a small fleet of inflated rafts powered by long oars. O.A.R.S. — Outdoor Adventure River Specialists — was the name of the renowned whitewater river rafting company.

Excerpt © 2023 Chester L. Richards. From "The Cliff," story in From The Potato to Star Trek and Beyond: Memoirs of a Rocket Scientist.  All rights reserved.
#adventures #whitewater #ColoradoRiver #GrandCanyon #video

July 4, 2023, Simi Valley, CA: The occasion for my visit was to attend the unveiling of the beautiful Sally Ride statue at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. More about that in a minute. First, a bit of background on the scene.

From the time you drive up Presidential Drive to the main entrance, the setting for the Library is impressive, and beautiful. Vistas abound as you walk up to the buildings houssing the permanent and traveling exhibits. On this day, the 247th birthday of our nation, there was a special festive atmosphere. Children and grownups alike sported red white and blue outfits, and spangly silver as well as red white and blue stars on their faces.

A band did a lively rendition of a Johnny Cash song, and various characters from our country's past were on hand to greet visitors and talk history.

There were also games for both kids and grownups, and the exhibits. Before the unveiling, we had time to visit one of the permanent exhibits, the Air Force One Pavilion, what friends have called "The Wow Room." That's the one where you can see and board Air Force One, tail number 27000, the plane used as "The Flying Office" by seven U.S. Presidents in all from 1973 to 2001: Presidents Nixon, Carter, Ford, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton and George W. Bush. Astonishing how small it seems inside, compared to what one would expect. But what a sight, standing under its appropriately huge wings. Inside a building!

Also in the Wow Room: one of President Reagan's presidential limousines and Secret Service suburbans (later referred to as "The Beast(s),") part of the permanent exhibit on presidential motorcades. Plaques you can zoom in to read tell us that the Secret Service began driving presidents in 1945, previously following presidents' limousines in separate vehicles.  Also that to insure presidents' safety, beginning in the 1960s the Beasts were flown to countries the presidents were visiting for official business.

At the time we visited, there was a major traveling exhibit about the Holocaust: Auschwitz, not long ago and not far away, to which large numbers of schools have been sending students for educational purposes. The exhibit contains 700 horrifying artifacts, objects from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum as well as more than 20 institutions and museums all over the world, and tells the story of "perpetrators as well as victims who lived inside."   The exhibit is to close August 13. If you wish to see it, you can buy tickets at the link above in this paragraph.

Embark on a mesmerizing journey with Chester and Ina as Chester recounts a unique musical experience during an expedition in Ethiopia. Chester shares a captivating story from his expedition down the Awash River in Eastern Ethiopia, a region known for its rich paleontological history.