"I first read about the Jon-Erik Hexum Fan club about two years ago in an entertainment magazine. And only two
days ago I happened upon your website at my local library. Thank-you for keeping the memory of Mr. Hexum alive.
It means so much to me that I would like to support this club and become a member.
"I saw Jon-Erik Hexum for the first time when I was 11 years old. My brother dragged me out of my room to watch
the premiere episode of Voyagers!, and I watched every episode after that one religiously. I was twelve and
thirteen years old by the time he was in Male Model and Cover Up, and although I was still a big fan of
his, I felt it was too immature to be crazy about some guy on TV.
"One of the strongest recollections that I have about the week following his accident was my failure to realize how serious
his injury had been. One of my best friends said, "Oh, he won't die. The good guys always live." This logic
made perfect sense to us eighth graders. Unfortunately, Jon-Erik died the next day and I felt my heart literally break
when I heard the news.
"I believe that Jon-Erik's death zapped a lot of people (like me) into reality. Granted I was young, but I gained
a deeper understanding of how precious life is.
"Next month I turn twenty-six years old, the same age Jon-Erik was when he died. I have always kept a small picture
of him in the back of my wallet, and when friends ask who he is, I always tell his story. One of my greatest fears was
that Jon-Erik would be forgotten and thanks to you he is able to live on a little longer.
"Thank-you again for your dedication of time to Jon-Erik Hexum and please send me any information that you have obtained.
Good luck on the biography and much continued success with the club."
Catherine R.
Dallas, Texas
"It had been one of 'those days' right from the start. Hey, with me, I have them quite a lot. It was a rainy
day in Baltimore, MD. I had gotten on a train with another girl, both aspiring models, looking for a break in the Big
Apple. As we arrived there, it was still coming down, and we had quite a few places to go. After a long, disappointing
day, we got to the last stop. As we sat there, I remember thinking how I'd just like to go home and have a good cry.
Never before had I been rejected so many times by so many people. It seemed as though if they found one good thing about
my appearance, they found about 15 bad ones. Finally, a man came out, middle-aged, and interviewed us. Well, he
was interested in me coming back to NY, but just like Jon-Erik's movie, there were other 'Things' he expected a model to do.
Being a proper Catholic girl with good morals, I turned these offers down, hey, I was 19! I had other things I could do.
"While standing there accessing my thoughts, he pointed to a man behind a desk. He asked me and my friend if we
knew who he was. I was not up with the show, Voyagers!, but I had heard and seen Jon-Erik before on commercials
and in magazines. Boom! I knew who he was. Excitedly, I asked the man if we could meet him. Jon-Erik approached
us, and I felt weak in the knees. Yeah, I was dating a pretty cute guy in Maryland, but WOW! I almost forgot about him,
at least for a moment, anyway.
"As he stood above me, looking into my eyes, aI remember thinking how I had never seen such amazing blue eyes.
As he shook my hand, how I wish he would never let it go! Suddenly, he spoke, and said 'hello' to my friend and me.
THAT VOICE! I could barely speak at all! I immediately felt a tinge of envy, thinking what kind of girl he would be attracted
to, and who he was dating. Guys like that never seem to come my way. (Welll, not that often). I handed him
a picture of me, and asked him to sign it. I laughed and said, 'sign right over my face, it can only improve it!' But
he refused, saying 'It's a pretty picture, I'm not going to ruin it! I'll sign here on the back.'
"As you can see, I still treasure that picture only because of the autograph on the other side. I had many of those
pictures, but that's the only one I've managed to keep all these many years (see attached).
"If only he knew how in just a few moments he had turned a miserable girl's day into a wonderful, beautiful memory.
Like the rain, he showered me with compliments, and wished me luck in my modeling career. And although I never again
tried to make it in NY, I did very well, as I continue to do locally, here in Maryland with modeling, and he remains in my
heart. I continue to wish that maybe some day a male model or someone in my walk of life will come along and be all
the lovely things Jon-Erik was.
"Those of us who treasure special memories of a meeting with Jon-Erik will be forever saddened by such a tragic turn
of events leading to his death. I heard many things about it since then, but I chose to believe that God needed a special
angel in heaven. One who was good to others, giving of heart and soul, beautiful, perfect and with a sense of humor
only matched by his gorgeous blue eyes. So sadly I ponder, maybe the good really do die young, and if so, Jon-Erik was
just that."
-- Andrea
(attached copy of a Hexum autograph: "To Andrea! Great Meetin you. Love your picture. Wish you the Very
Best of Luck. Love Jon-Erik Hexum.") -- ed.
"I did meet Jon-Erik once, only too briefly, at Universal, on the set of Voyagers!, and then I made the foolish
mistake of waiting too long for the next one. I was planning to visit him again on the set of Cover Up by mid-October,
1984.
"I'm afraid there's not much to tell about my single meeting with Jon-Erik. It was sometime in mid-January, 1983,
and the episode they were filming was almost certainly 'Barriers of Sound.' I had a late lunch at the studio commissary
with Louis Blaine from publicity (and admired Jon-Erik's big, beautiful picture on the wall as we ate). Then I spent
a couple of hours in administration in the MCA 'Black Tower', and almost as an afterthought (I can't believe it myself, now!),
I asked if I could make a quick visit to the set of Voyagers!. It was late afternoon already and they were
preparing to call it a wrap for the day. Meeno had long since departed (he was only permitted to work something like
three hours a day) and Jon-Erik, in his Voyager costume, was talking to several other visitors. Blaine's secretary,
Miriam, introduced us,and we shook hands, long and hard. Jon-Erik looked deep into my eyes and asked me: 'Haven't we
met before?' 'Not in this lifetime,' was my reply.
"I told him I used to be a syndicated movie and TV columnist, and that at this time I had several treatments for screenplays
in circulation, and naturally how much I enjoyed the show and his performance; he told me to come back and visit anytime."
-- Alex K.
Connecticut
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"I first discovered JE in the fall of 1982 -- like most people did -- in 'Voyagers'. Like the saying goes, 'just
one look, that's all it took!' One could easily see he was a diamond in the rough.
"I was working for the FBI at the time -- in the fingerprint/evidence lab, and wrote a silly letter how my co-workers
and I worked hard to keep America safe for him by catching crooks, etc., etc., and that the least he could do to thank us
is send a picture of himself to hang over the one of J. Edgar Hoover, since they did, after all, share the same initials.
(Pushy, but it worked!)
"To my amazement, less than a month later, I did receive an autographed poster -- complete with doodles and as much craziness
as I had thrown him. (I officially became a 'Voyager of the FBI'!)
"To reciprocate for his kindness, I sent him an FBI Academy shirt (usually associated with agents in training) and from
that moment on I was to become accustomed to finding notes and postcards in my mailbox from JE. (These notes were always
written on the back of pages torn out of scripts! And in his own fashion, he would write his name and address big as day across
the back of the envelopes!) He would let me know what talk shows and potential projects he was involved with, and I'd let
him know what cases I was working with.
"In Feb. 1983, late one evening, I received a phone call from JE -- at the sound of that voice, yes, my knees went a
bit weak! He thanked me for all the 'great' letters I had sent him, and for the next 25 minutes we spoke mainly (much to my
surprise) about me. He was genuinely interested in my 'career' at the FBI. There were moments when I DID feel
like I was having a conversation with Phineas Bogg! He was charming, witty, easy to talk to, and he actually made my work
seem more important and glamorous than his was.
As he became more popular and busy trying to make his mark, the mail became less frequent, but he always made the effort
to let me know where he would turn up next. His extra efforts always touched me, as well as impressed me. I just
couldn't imagine ay other 'star' being this considerate.
"The following year in April 1984, once again out of the blue, 'my hero' called me. This time we spoke more of
what was happening in his life. He was pleased with the 'possibility of a new series.' 'The plot is kinda shaky,
but the character has real possibilities.' (This man had a knack for throwing a curve ball. In the middle of a
conversation, he would suddenly ask, 'Hey, do you have a boyfriend? To which I replied, 'Yeah, do you?') We spoke of
the possibilitiy of finally meeting, as I had invited him to come see me work and take the VIP tour, and he tought it might
be possible on his next trip east to pop into Washington DC.
"The last letter I received was in late Sept. 1984 -- asking me what I thought of Cover Up. The last letter
I wrote was in response to that. Unfortunately, I'll never know if he even got a chance to read it. I like to
think he did. I like to think I made him laugh, just as he made me smile. Most of all, I like to think we would
have finally met face to face, and I would have gotten a big bear hug!"
-- Betsey S,
Washington DC
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"Jon-Erik Hexum has been gone a long time. His memory continues in the legions of fans that he had and he will
forever be remembered to future generations of fans by the films and television shows he made. Your biography and your
work with his fan club continue to keep his memory alive for all of us. You have been an outstanding spokesman and I
know Jon-Erik would be proud to have had you as his friend. I know he smiles from above at the work you do to keep his
memory alive.
"Several years ago I met a lady who met Jon-Erik while she was working on the Queen Mary ship in Long Beach. Voyagers!
was filming an episode on the QM and Helen was workring that day. She found Jon-Erik to be quite personable and extremely
funny. She tells me he had a natural beauty and that he was quite a flirt (with men & women). During breaks
in the filming, he frequently visited with her and talked a lot about the ship and the show.
"Helen had her picture taken with him and he gave her an autographed napkin. She treasures both and has promised
to give them to me the next time she runs across them and we meet. She's a wonderful lady who happens to be 75 years
young."
-- Dan M.
Swansea, Illinois
"As I look across the room, I see a picture of Jon; his eyes are staring a never-ending stare. They seem to be
crying out of death. Sometimes I wonder if dead people are really dead. My father died about five years ago, and
I expected him to come back, and he did -- through the eyes of Jon-Erik Hexum.
"For a while I had the ideal father, that every teenage girl wants, but when he died I went crazy; I couldn't believe
that I lost my father twice.
"Since then I have gotten over the pain, but sometimes when things are quiet or even hectic, I can feel his hand on my
shoulder, telling me everything is going to be fine.
"Sometimes I kid myself about admiring a dead man. I say he's dead, and that's all there is to it. But I
can't believe that. I love Jon, and he'll never leave my heart."
-- Lynn M.
October 12, 2007
Twenty-three years ago today I suffered a devastating loss when actor Jon-Erik Hexum accidentally shot himself in the
head with a prop gun while on the set of his TV series, Cover Up. After failing to recover from the brain trauma,
he was declared dead six days later, his organs donated to those in need.
That was a really rough week for me. I was 16, studying to become an actress, and had been following Jon-Erik's career
since his starring role on Voyagers!, one of my favourite shows, back in 1982. I took his death very hard, because
I sorta knew Jon-Erik. While he was working on Voyagers! I wrote him a fan letter, just gushing about him and the
show. He wrote me back a few weeks later and included some personal photos of himself on the set. Not publicity shots but
candid pics of him and his co-star Meeno Peluce goofing around on set. I wrote him back to thank him, and told him I was studying
to become an actress, and he wrote me back again, gave some career advice and even more photos of himself and Meeno (I think
I may still have an autograhed picture of him somewhere. I should try to find it.). Anyway, as the months passed and Voyagers!
wrapped production, Jon-Erik and I continued to write to each other, right up to the month he passed away.
I found out about the accident on Entertainment Tonight and was absolutely sick with worry, praying that he'd
recover. The day his parents pulled the plug I went into a deep, near suicidal depression. Jon-Erik Hexum was the kindest,
most thoughtful and giving actor I had ever encountered up to that point. I'd hoped that he and I would work together -- or
at the very least, meet -- someday. So genuine, caring and compassionate, he revealed many private things to me in his writings,
and I will never forget how much he trusted me, a 16 year old nobody from Canada, with his secrets. I still think about Jon-Erik
from time to time, and wonder what he'd be doing now, if that prop gun hadn't blown a hole in his temple.
The world lost someone special when he died. :-(
-- KJC
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