Joan Pearce (13 June 1930 – 13 January 2005; age 74) was a script researcher who worked a large part of the Star Trek franchise, from the beginning of Star Trek: The Original Series to the end of Star Trek: Enterprise. She was the founder of Joan Pearce Research Associates.
On the original Star Trek, Pearce worked directly with the staff as an associate of Kellam de Forest to ensure continuity and to prevent the series from encroaching on other science fiction stories. Upon de Forest's retirement by the time of Star Trek: The Next Generation, she had opened her own agency and in total helped research over 700 hours worth of scripts. Among the specific episodes she assisted with was Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges", for which she provided writer Ronald D. Moore information on the Latin phrase which makes up the episode's title. (AOL chat, 1998)
On 28 July 2006, an extensive collection of scripts and production material from Pearce's personal collection was auctioned off at the the 25th Annual Profiles in History Hollywood Auction.
Other projects, Pearce directly worked on script clearance include include the science fiction thriller Terminal Error (2002, starring Michael Nouri and Marina Sirtis) and the horror thriller The Boy (2016, with Jim Norton).
Pearce passed away on 13 January 2005. [1] [2]