J.M. Ford

See Ford for other articles with titles that contain, either by relationship or by coincidence, this character's surname.

J. M. Ford, also known as Mike Ford, was a 23rd century human writer, cultural anthropologist and Starfleet officer.

He was educated at the Makropyrios, apparently spending some time as a student of the distinguished scholar and ambassador, Dr. Emanuel Tagore.

Ford and Tagore collaborated as co-authors on An Informal Guide to the Klingon Empire, although like the more famous work discussed below, this may largely have been compiled by Ford from his mentor's notes. (FASA RPG modules: The Klingons, The Four Years War)

Unable to obtain on-the-record verification of certain suppressed details of events surrounding the Dissolution Babel crisis (due to tight lips by most knowledgeable surviving persons and excessive classification of records), Ford assembled the facts as best he could and released the story as a novel, The Final Reflection. (TOS novel: The Final Reflection)

In his work, Ford displayed a quietly questioning attitude to the military-industrial complex of Starfleet and the Federation. However, by 2289, if not before, he was serving as an officer in Starfleet, holding the rank of Commander. In that year, the senior officers of the USS Enterprise-A assembled an elite crew for a rogue operation to investigate an alien threat referred to as the “Critters”, and — knowing that this mission would take them close to Klingon space — they enlisted Ford to be a part of this crew. However, Ford was injured en route to join the mission, and was replaced by Lieutenants Jamie Finney (who was an old student of his) and Sal McMurphy. (TOS comic: "Debt of Honor")

"J. M. Ford" is, of course, an in-universe counterpart of The Final Reflection author John M. Ford. When Chris Claremont referenced him in "Debt of Honor", he used his real-life nickname of "Mike".