By Christa Lawler
April 16, 2009 | Duluth News Tribune

It has been a year since Lawrence Lee, decked out in a white tuxedo accented with D&D decals, was named the Geek Prom king in front of an audience of his geeky peers. His first order of business was to set the record straight on something that had been bothering him since 1997:

“I declared that now and forever, Han Solo shot first,” Lee said, referring to Star Wars revisionist history. “George Lucas revised Episode Four to make it look like Greedo shot first. He thought that Han shooting first made him look cold-blooded.

“I thought it was very important to come out with a very strong statement as king. This needed to be set straight.”

There were other duties involved with ruling the Geekdom — royalty he shared with queen Trish Stinnett:

“I did some geek reporting to [the Web site www. perfectduluthday.com],
I partook in some games and activities,” Lee said.

Just before crowning his successor, Lee will lead a Sy/Fy [sic] Spelling Bee at Saturday’s Geek Prom at the Great Lakes Aquarium. His word bank will be heavy on lingo found in what he calls “The Big Three”: “Star Wars,” “Star Trek” and “Battlestar Galactica.” But don’t be surprised if he throws in some words from the “Dune” series and “Soylent Green.”

Lee’s geeky strength is games — role-playing or board, it doesn’t matter. At one point he was ranked as the No. 1 online player of “Settlers of Catan.” He plans to attend this year’s prom in more casual attire. Maybe a T-shirt featuring the Green Lantern or Gary Gygax — who co-invented Dungeons & Dragons.

“Once a geek king, always a geek king,” he said of passing the geeky torch. “I know most of the geek kings and they are all fine fellows. I’m happy to join the fraternity.”