Stillwell was born in Okinawa, Japan, in 1962. His father was in the U.S. Air Force, and when his dad retired in 1976, the family moved to Eugene, Oregon. Stillwell became an avid Star Trek fan in 1974, having only been three years of age when the original series made its network debut in 1966. His family were living at Mountain Home A.F.B., Idaho, when he petitioned a local TV station in Boise to keep reruns of Star Trek on the air. At age 18, he organized and administered the international fan club STARFLEET International, which still operates today with thousands of members around the world. The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes Starfleet as the world's largest science fiction fan club, although Stillwell has not been actively involved with the organization in more than twenty y