by John G. Hertzler
For five decades, John G. Hertzler carved a place for himself in the world of professional acting. Through talent and tenacity — sometimes dumb luck — he won roles in countless stage productions, movies, and television programs.
His story begins in a famous New York City watering hole, awaiting the newspapers, recalling many brushes with other people’s Greatness. His life story-arc begins as a skinny, half-blind kid in baggy pants; includes an all-expense paid trip to Spain to clash swords with Zorro; a hated adhesive eyepatch which became General Martok’s trademark on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; and an innocent folding chair sent hurtling into pop culture history.
Hertzler explores fifty years of expanding his family to include artists and actors. “So many new families,” Hertzler reflects, “all fellow explorers of terra incognita, commonly known as life.”