Farewell, Mr. Spock
OK, I confess that despite amused, sometimes embarrassed sighs from my kids, I am, and have been since I was a teenager, an unrepentant "Star Trek" fan. I love the show in all its various incarnations ; Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Enterprise, Voyager, and (it goes without saying) Gene Roddenberry's original series, which first aired in my early teen years. I have also loved the recent movies, which show a different "timeline." (The whole notions of time travel, paradoxes and temporal shifts, however, give me a terrible headache.)
Yes, I have most of the movies on video, as well as my favorite episodes of the various series. I have a copy of the "Star Trek Encyclopedia" and "Captain's Log" on my bookshelf as well. Definite "Trekker" stuff. (A "Trekker," by the way, is a fan like me. A "Trekkie" is one of those folks who wear Starfleet uniforms to jury duty or learn to speak Klingon, and is so desperately in need of therapy--or a phaser blast.)
It was with great sadness that I learned of Leonard Nimoy's passing. Mr. Spock was a part of my childhood that followed me into adulthood. His character was, to say the least, unique. He really did "boldly go where no man has gone before." And over the years Leonard Nimoy made Spock grow and develop wonderfully. If you want to see the change, watch the pilot for the original series, "The Cage" and then watch the first in the new series of movies, which features Nimoy as an aging Spock, and (my fellow Pittsburgher) Zachary Quinto as the young Spock. It is an unmistakeable progression, an incredible job of developing a character. Even more awesome is that Nimoy did it, literally, right in front of our eyes.
Perhaps Nimoy himself said it best. At the premier of the 2009 film, he observed that he was more comfortable with Spock than he had ever been. "I know where I am going and I know where I have been."
I hope I can develop my written characters even one tenth as well, and make them as human as Nimoy made Mr. Spock.
-PMH
Yes, I have most of the movies on video, as well as my favorite episodes of the various series. I have a copy of the "Star Trek Encyclopedia" and "Captain's Log" on my bookshelf as well. Definite "Trekker" stuff. (A "Trekker," by the way, is a fan like me. A "Trekkie" is one of those folks who wear Starfleet uniforms to jury duty or learn to speak Klingon, and is so desperately in need of therapy--or a phaser blast.)
It was with great sadness that I learned of Leonard Nimoy's passing. Mr. Spock was a part of my childhood that followed me into adulthood. His character was, to say the least, unique. He really did "boldly go where no man has gone before." And over the years Leonard Nimoy made Spock grow and develop wonderfully. If you want to see the change, watch the pilot for the original series, "The Cage" and then watch the first in the new series of movies, which features Nimoy as an aging Spock, and (my fellow Pittsburgher) Zachary Quinto as the young Spock. It is an unmistakeable progression, an incredible job of developing a character. Even more awesome is that Nimoy did it, literally, right in front of our eyes.
Perhaps Nimoy himself said it best. At the premier of the 2009 film, he observed that he was more comfortable with Spock than he had ever been. "I know where I am going and I know where I have been."
I hope I can develop my written characters even one tenth as well, and make them as human as Nimoy made Mr. Spock.
-PMH
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