Mr. Spock is dead

February 27, 2015 • 1:27 pm

When Greg just emailed me the news that Leonard Nimoy had died, I thought, “Not possible: he was too young.” But then I read his obituary in the New York Times and found that he was 83.

Both the NYT and Time Magazine notes that he was fatally ill with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also known as emphysema) and apparently knew he was going to die. He had stopped smoking three decades earlier, but it was already too late.

The magazine reproduces his final tw**t, issued only on Monday. It’s poignant:

Screen Shot 2015-02-27 at 1.17.53 PM

Time adds:

Nimoy signed all his tweets “LLAP” or “Live Long and Prosper,” his character’s catchphrase from the Star Trek series and films.

Nimoy had announced via Twitter last year that he had been diagnosed with COPD, a chronic respiratory disease caused by smoking that has no cure. He encouraged his followers to stop smoking.

I never watched Star Trek, but I know that he’s often used as an exemplar or metaphor on this site, and that many of the readers know a lot about Nimoy, and loved his character. Feel free to share your memories below.

He did indeed live long, and prospered.

imgres

130 thoughts on “Mr. Spock is dead”

  1. I was typing up an email to bring this to your attention when I saw the new post come in.

    Leonard Nimoy may have died…but Mr. Spock, I do believe, is immortal. And Spock’s immortality is entirely thanks to Mr. Nimoy’s talent and work.

    Live long and prosper, Mr. Spock. We shan’t forget you, nor the actor who gave you life.

    b&

    1. some actors create characters so big they will last for many many many generations after they pass. LLAP

  4. That’s too bad – Nimoy always looked younger than his age and he was so active in acting, having appeared in a recurring role on Fringe

    My nana had emphysema not only from smoking but also from living in a house that ran on coal!! When I visited to pack it all up and sell it in NZ I almost started a fire by turning up the heat while using the phone or some such weird thing.

  5. I was shocked to learn of his death a couple of hours ago. I am dismayed to see that his obituary in the NY Times was written by Virginia Heffernan, a creationist, now, thankfully, gone from the Times.

    The dismay is that Nimoy, who through his work (I don’t know his personal views) had done so much to promote a positive view of science and the future, and whose most well-know character has been a role-model for budding scientists who saw it could be “cool” to be scientific (I had lunch with just such a colleague today, a 30-something who genuinely feels a loss at Nimoy’s death), should have his life memorialized by such an anti-scientific cultural marker as Heffernan. (I refrained from calling her an anti-scientific icon, because, thankfully, she has not achieved for her dubious views the exposure or notoriety that would qualify them as iconic.)

    Where’s A.O Scott when we need him?

  6. A friend is a registrar. He married one couple in a Star Trek wedding: trekkie dress-code.

    The ceremony finished, he wished bride and groom, “Live Long and Prosper” with the 4-finger salute.

    R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy. He’s dead, Jim. x

  7. Star Trek and Mr. Spock have always been in my life. I grew up on reruns of the original series, and watched The Next Generation (in which Nimoy appeared a few times) in college.

    In the various interviews I’ve seen of him, he always seemed like a decent and generous man, not entirely unlike the character he’s known for. I’ll miss him!

    Fortunately we have DVDs and the internet, so I’m glad I can still visit Mr. Spock and the universe he helped make so real.

  8. I love that old series and I think many of the episodes had important messages. I’m planning on sitting down one day soon with my young son and watching the episode with the Gorn.
    I’ve heard that many of the traits that made Spock so endearing where ideas brought to the character by Nimoy. Although the show was very enjoyable I don’t think it was serious sci-fi and many things were inconsistent. After all, Spock should have been the least endearing character of all.
    Nimoy didn’t seem to get much work outside of Star Trek, but he was in one of my all time favorite movies: Invasion of the Body Snatchers from 1976

    1. After all, Spock should have been the least endearing character of all.

      Quite the contrary.

      Superficially, of course, Spock’s role was the emotionless robot…but that was just to provide the necessary “surprise” when he broke his own mold. In reality, he was often one of the most over-the-top emotional characters on the show.

      See, for example:

      or any of the times he went into his once-a-decade month-long sexual heats, or his Vulcan half otherwise lost control to his human half.

      He was also the most selflessly generous character, never hesitating to do anything in his power to make the universe a better place for his friends (even as he protested that he had no friends) even at ultimate personal cost.

      Spock, in one sense, probably really was the least human character of the show…but only because he was the most idealized and admirable character of the show. He represented what we all wish to be, what we all should be…as opposed to what too many of us are (and as wonderfully played out by, especially, Kirk).

      b&

      1. “He was also the most selflessly generous character, never hesitating to do anything in his power to make the universe a better place for his friends (even as he protested that he had no friends) even at ultimate personal cost.”

        Very well put…made tear up.

      3. “Spock, in one sense, probably really was the least human character of the show…but only because he was the most idealized and admirable character of the show.”

        Such a perfect characterization. By both of you.

      4. I loved the DS-9 episode where Dax and Sisko go back in time to the tribble episode. They see Kirk and Spock and Dax says she always had a crush on him. Sisko assumes she’s speaking about Kirk and starts talking about how Kirk was such a ladies man. Dax then explains that she was talking about Spock. I think she said it was something about his eyes!

        I always like Spock the best. I used to get pissed off that the rest of the crew didn’t see the logic Spock saw. However, as I grew older, I started to see Bones’s point of view.

        2. Bones and Spock were perfect foils for each other at basically every level.

          The interesting thing, though…when it turned out that Bones was right, it was because he had some additional piece of the puzzle that Spock lacked. And, once Spock figured out that piece of the puzzle, the logic fell into place. And when it was Spock who was right, it was because Bones let his emotions run amok and wasn’t able to think logically.

          So…logic still won out; Bones “merely” made the picture complete enough for logic to be able to prevail.

          …speaking of crushes…I might have had one for a bit on Dax….

          b&

      5. True – and I’m amazed at how many neuroscience, psychology, philosophy works on the emotions, moral reasoning, etc. use him as the example of a creature without passion. (That and “Kantian monsters”, often.)

  10. I was 5 when i first sat in fear of Spock in the early episodes. His character matured into a rational and irreplaceable resource for his peers founded on logic of empirical evidence, knowledge of the sciences and sound philosophical thought that I later embraced and adored. I can’t imagine that Profesor C.C. has never watched…I was such a fan I resisted the next Gen for a long while… I am saddened by the loss of Leonard Nimoy “SPOCK”.

    So Long Leonard! May you memory LLAP!

  11. I remember going to a Star Trek convention (a long time ago) and having to make a choice between standing in a (very) long line to get an autograph from Leonard Nimoy or to stand in a much much shorter line and get autographs from Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) and George Takei (Sulu). I chose the latter course and without regret as I got to spend a little more time with them than I would have with the more popular Nimoy. Still, it would have been good to shake his hand in person….

  12. As an example of something that Nimoy brought to the show:
    The Vulcan LLAP hand sign that hes using in the pic above is from Orthodox Jewish ceremonies where the Rabbi uses that hand sign to bless the congregation. The hand is supposed to represent a particular letter in the Hebrew alphabet.

    3. Actually, not the rabbi but the Cohanim (those decended from the high priest class), when giving the special blessing of the Cohanim on holidays like Yom Kippur. One is not supposed to actually watch, and Leonard Nimoy (doing what all of us kids did) sneaked a peak, when he was young. It’s done with both hands at the same time, symbolically held over the congregation. And, the blessing is just good wishes, rather like LLAP.

  13. I do remember watching the show but never really thought much of it. It became a big hit after they took it off. Big mistake.

    He did a lot of stuff on TV besides this but nothing is remembered but this show. Three seasons and it defines your whole life.

    2. Before Star Trek, which I adored from childhood, I remember him in the original TV series of Mission Impossible, which I also liked a lot.

      There are heaps of great Spock memes out there too, like, “Religion, it’s just not logical Jim”. They’re all on a similar theme.

      2. Yes, hardly surprising since Gene Rodenberry was a great humanist; take a look at the minorities represented in his cast and how they were all part of the crew and not just mere stereotypes of their group in society.

  14. I love all the Star Trek shows and movies. The Spock character was one of the highlights. My favorite Spock of all time was in Star Trek IV–which Nimoy directed. I think Nimoy was fairly liberal. I remember seeing him at a political rally/protest in the late 60s. When NBC first announced that the series was being cancelled I went with some fellow grad students and undergrads from Cal Tech to protest at the NBC studios. It got some pretty good press and James Doohan and Walter Koenig actually showed up to thank us. I like to think that we helped save the show. Sadly, all things must pass.

  16. I just heard of his death a few minutes ago. I am sad. Star Trek was a ground breaking show in so many ways, and Leonard Nimoy was an integral part of that. Spock has been a favorite character of mine since I was a boy.

    Leonard Nimoy evolved Spock into such a natural, real seeming, character, that I could not buy any of the other characters I saw him play. He was Spock damnit!

    I will be raising a toast this evening, “Farewell Leonard Nimoy, you will be missed. Long Live Spock!”

  17. I am saddened also by the death of Leonard Nimoy. I watched Star Trek in reruns as a kid and loved it. I remember watching some outtakes from the show a while back and being delighted by his sudden change from serious Mr. Spock to the human Leonard Nimoy, laughing spontaneously at the mistake.
    It feels like the end of an era.
    LLAP

  18. Spock, like Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie’s Poirot, had much in common with “aspies”. S

    There is a certain contradiction between their cold and friendless exterior and a deeply emotional interior.

  21. I’m old enough to remember the original Star Trek series when it was shown here in the UK, which must have been in the very early 1970s. Watching re-runs now it takes me back to a much more optimistic era than the one we’re living in now, a time in the afterglow of the Apollo moon landings when it was possible to imagine we’d solve all our earthly problems and carry on outwards to explore the stars. Naïve of course, but it made the future seem a very exciting prospect for a 10/11 year-old boy growing up in a working-class district of Liverpool. Mr Spock is one of the great TV characters from that era, and as others have said, will be remembered as long as our culture endures.

    I’m going to crack open a beer now and drink a toast to Leonard Nimoy – LLAP.

    2. 12 July 1969-15 December 1971 according to Memory Alpha. So it started just /before/ the Moon landing (20 July)!

      It was shown in the _Doctor Who_ slot on BBC1, at dinner time on Saturday. I remember 8-year-old me being very cross about that.

      Wp says the last _DW_ episode that year, the last episode of “War Games” and the last of Patrick Troughton’s second Doctor, was broadcast 21 June… although my recollection was _ST_ began the following week… (I wonder what filled the gap.)

      Anyway, I was soon won over.

      /@

  22. That is sad news. I met him once a few years back at a Comic Convention. He was extremely friendly, patient and a true lover of his fans. Spock will outlive the man and that is a positive reality.

    As a kid, I also enjoyed his series “In Search Of”. Lots of woo, of course, but as a kid it sparked my imagination, and he was a great narrator.

    1. I loved that show as a child, and in fact it was my introduction to Leonard Nimoy.

      Of course, I later deeply resented the show, because I realised it had resulted in my believing in all sorts of rubbish. (I really took it seriously.)

      But all is forgiven for his later Simpsons appearances.

    2. As a kid, I used to really like “In Search of….” too, also the “Chariots of the Gods” movies and the rest. Thankfully, I outgrew that and eventually took a skeptical and evidence-based view of such phenomena.

      I have to wonder how many skeptics got their start from being young paranormalists who eventually came to find paranormal explanations and reasoning lacking.

      1. I hugely enjoyed von Däniken’s books when I was a kid. But it was Blumrich’s _The Spaceships of Ezekiel_ whose “rational” explanations of events in that book started me on the path from Catholicism.

        /@

  24. Sadly, Nimoy also hosted the abysmal series “In Search of…,” which delved into paranormal and other such idiocies. I don’t know what he actually thought about such things, but hope that he only did this due to his need to keep working. I never saw the show. Does anybody know more?

    1. I loved the show. It showed me things I had never seen or heard of, and if I recall correctly presented the evidence relatively fairly. I certainly think it was better than the crap shows that are around now, with mr. crazy hair, whatever his name is.

  25. Star Trek is often cheesy, silly, or far-fetched, but its good moments are genuinely inspired and inspiring. It’s sometimes naive and (maybe) simplistically idealistic, but it’s because of the work of individuals like Leonard Nimoy who bring it to life that I find myself inspired by the humanism and idealism of TV shows and movies that are older than I am.

    I was genuinely saddened for a few hours today after hearing the news; I grew up watching Star Trek movies and shows after all. What’s cheered me up is the immense outpouring of sadness from what seems to be every corner of the internet.

    How many actors from a 1960s television show receive this kind of send off? How many actors *now* even get it? All of it is just wonderful, and I think I’m going to pop in a Star Trek DVD tonight for good times’ sake.

    1. Yes, there are countless moments of silliness, but we shouldn’t forger just how radical a vision of the future it proposed. TThe idea that Planet Earth would become an egalitarian, non-racial, non-violent, more-or-less communistic utopia – and also completely atheist to boot. Who would dare to suggest that now?

      1. I certainly would never forget that! That’s definitely one part of it all that’s so interesting and appealing to me.

        How many times did they discover something claiming to be God or a god, only to debunk the claims completely? Even the ones that ended up being seemingly omnipotent were morally challenged compared to our heroes. A sadly necessary reminder.

        1. I know nothing about Star Trek although I thought the Film reboot recently was pretty darn good and I know that Spock had a kind of species of his own called the Vulcans.
          Are you telling me the studio never tried to shoehorn some kind of new-agey, Chopra-esque spiritual beliefs into their story? Given how keen TV execs are to Godify things that’s admirable and surprising.

          1. Star Trek was remarkably woo-free. Not entirely…I painfully remember one episode that ended with Uhura explaining that the alien wasn’t the “sun god” but rather the “Son of God,” with the Jesus overtones positively deafening.

            And the later spinoff shows are notorious for the “particle of the week,” the invention of some sort of sciency-sounding technobabble that served as a plot device. And the crew of one of the spinoffs “rapidly evolved” into a “highly advanced” but sessile lizard species before some sort of transporter magic returned them to their original state.

            But, those sorts of bad science goofs aside, it was remarkably consistently naturalistic and humanistic. Even the (many) gods were mortal; they were just aliens with more advanced technology and, basically always, less advanced morality.

            A rather famous quote of Kirk’s: “What does God need with a starship?” That’s a pretty typical representation of the series’s approach to divinity and religion.

            Cheers,

            b&

          2. Ray Bradbury established the show. The story goes he thought of it as a medium to convey progressive social values in a neutral (alien) setting. A way, for example, to discuss racism objectively outside of a racist society. I’m not sure if this interpretation is valid for all the shows, but I thought it made sense for at least some of them.

          4. Well I can see why it has such totemic status amongst the irreligious. Thanks.

            About all the woo – I’m reasonably forgiving about that, I don’t know about you, because if you’re going to be constrained by modern physics, even speculative modern physics, a whole tranche of scientifically and philosophically interesting ideas are ruled out from the start. I actually like the idea of working within the constraints of modern physics – it makes a story more engaging somehow – but I can understand that if it’s over the length of a television series you really are tying one hand behind your back. No past-directed time travel, not even Everettian time travel, no communication between separate universes, no FTL travel through space to a place you haven’t yet visited…it can be a little dry I suppose, although the fact that ‘hard’ sci-fi is exploring real science makes it a lot more engaging to me.

          5. And, in fairness to Roddenberry, Star Trek was written at a time when either we hadn’t yet ruled out faster-than-light travel (and the like) or when knowledge that we had wasn’t especially widespread.

            At the time, basically everything (at least in the original series) was still considered within the realm of plausibility.

            Indeed, some of the far-out gee-whiz stuff is already banal. We’ve all got smartphones that put to shame both the communicators and the tricorders. Cops might not have phasers they set to “stun,” but they do carry tazers, which are basically the same thing. I’m sure I’m neglecting others that somebody else will chime in with….

            b&

          8. I’m sure the notorious “sun god/Son of God” twist to that episode was imposed on Roddenberry by the network. That’s my wooly recollection from a documentary shown on the BBC.

    2. “cheesy, silly, or far-fetched”
      Looking at them now, there is something in the shows of a high school play. I feel like a parent with children on stage.
      They were right for the time and inspired many to reconsider what society was all about. What being an alien meant. What friendship was for.

  26. I am truly sorry to see Mr.Nimoy’s death. I am an Amateur Radio operator as well as always being fascinated by both astronomy and space travel. In the mid 70’s another ham friend was an administrator at the Denver Planetarium. I lived in Denver at the time and he had arranged for Mr.Nimoy to make the audio narration for the planetarium show.I had the best of luck to have my friend invite me to watch him tape the show and to actually meet him in person. I remember him to have been a kind and grateous person and also too realize that in person his voice was so much deeper and strong than could ever be captured on a TV show. I am 74 now but it is still one of my most prescious memories. LL&P

  27. Mr. Spock, and thus Leonard Nimoy, was the first person I had a crush on. He and his alter ego made me very much the person I am today,valuing reason and knowledge and humaneness

    2. As I recall, at the end of “Amok Time” Spock tells the victorious suitor (or at least words to the effect):

      “You will find that getting what you want and wanting what you have are two different things.”

    3. Looking at that episode again, I found the most bizarre part the way the Vulcan woman was to be OWNED by the winner of the climactic combat. I can just imagine young females at the time trying to figure out what that would entail.

      1. Yep, an echo of the Romulan connection.

        As a youngster I wondered where ST writers got their names for alien, especially the Andorians. Then years later, I noticed Andorra straddling the Spain-France border.

  29. Spock was a good guy.

    That’s how I’d first describe him: sure, he was super intelligent, strong, and capable, but none of that really matters when trying to describe why it saddens me that Nimoy has passed away.

    I learned a lot about what it means to be moral and to do the right thing from Spock, and it saddens me that the person who brought the character to life has now left us.

    LLAP

  30. Watching the character of Spock during the first run of the original series, and later in re-runs, inspired me to follow a career working with computers. It is no exaggeration to say that the passing of Mr. Nimoy, the man who brought the character to life, is a great loss.

  31. I never watched Star Trek

    I’m not sure if those words can or should ever be used in that combination! 🙂

    On the off chance that PCC gets some free time, here are some Star Trek (original series) episode recommendations:

    1. The City on the Edge of Forever (time travel!)
    2. Patterns of Force (NAZIS!)
    3. Space Seed (Khhhaaaannnnnnn!)
    4. Mirror, Mirror (Spock, now with more beard)
    5. Arena (big Lizard guy)
    6. Errand of Mercy (just a great episode)
    7. The Trouble with Tribbles (well, Tribbles)
    8. Bread and Circuses (Romans??)
    9. The Enterprise Incident (Romulans??)
    10. The Immunity Syndrome (a giant amoeba!)

  32. In 1998 or so, Leonard Nimoy came to a synagogue in Shreveport, LA, to give a talk and sell his new book. Why there? Because the rabbi of the small conservative congregation was a huge fan and invited him. He must have squeezed it in between other stops, because he couldn’t stay, afterward, to talk with anyone, but I recall him telling his life’s history and how he started in the Yiddish Theatre in NYC, back when it was still quite something.

    I like to think that, while he was very culturally Jewish, he was also agnostic at least and atheist at best. Maybe it’s in his books, somewhere.

    One more thing: Amazon has some signed items of his under ten bucks — apparently the sellers don’t all know he’s gone, yet. If you are of keepsake mentality, now would be the best time to acquire one.

  33. The news definitely made me well up.

    I was never a Trekkie, but I grew up watching the series. I have to say my appreciation of the show took a big leap
    when I got hold of the Original Series on Blu-Ray (actually, on HDDVD first…*choke*)

    I was just entranced by how great Nimoy was as Spock. It takes a little while for him to develop the character, and then toward the end they deliberately had him doing more out of character stuff, thinking it helped ratings. But when he was in the groove through the most of the first, second and part of the third year, what an incredible performance. The discipline in his performance to me is a marvel to watch. The dialing back, the incredible minimalism.
    His performance, combined with his fantastic deep voice and his almost other-worldly aristocratic look, just seemed to bring a whole new species alive.

    The problem is he was so good, no one else ever even came close to doing a Vulcan.
    People seemed to think it was easy, just start pretending you have no emotion and speak “logically.” But all you ever get from other actors doing Vulcan is just…an actor trying to be a Vulcan.

    I think Zachary Quinto as Spock in the new movies is the most valiant effort. He had the look and the passion for the role. Buit he showed too much emotion, his voice had no gravity, he was an actor clearly coiling in his energy, restraining. Whereas Nimoy’s calm seemed to come right from his core, a Zen-like minimalism and stillness that just sold the character All Zachary Quinto does when I watch the new Star Trek movies is
    remind me of what Nimoy had achieved.

    My sons both loved Star Trek the OS when we watched them together, my 13 year old so much that his pet fish is named “Spock Jr.”

    (BTW, my main gripe with Star Trek is that for all it’s lip service to science and logic, it too often ran the old course of “follow your FEELINGS” message. Spock’s logic often won some skirmishes within an episode, but often the denouement rested upon the virtue, usually shown by Kirk, of acting on intuition and feeling, qualities that Spock lacked).

    I shall watch the episode Mirror Mirror, one of my favorite, and toast a drink to Nimoy!

    1. The dialing back, the incredible minimalism.

      This is so true. In the best episodes, his performance is seamless.

      The problem is he was so good, no one else ever even came close to doing a Vulcan.

      I think Mark Lenard did (or at least came very close) – he played Sarek (his TV dad) on The Next Generation.

      Excellent choice on “Mirror, Mirror”!

    2. Your description of Nimoy’s Spock, with the calm eminating from within, made me think of Sam Harris! That made me wonder whether Leonard Nimoy was also into meditation.

    3. ” The problem is he was so good, no else ever came close to doing a Vulcan.”

      I suggest you take a look at the work of the actor Tim Russ a splendid actor from the Voyager spin-off who played the role of chief tactical officer, Tuvok a Vulcan.He delivered Nimoy/Spock like as a recurring character each week as a man of science, reason and logic. LL&P.

  35. During my brief foray into f@cebook, I followed Mr. Nimoy as well as Mr. Takei, and felt privileged when I made a comment on one of his posts that Mr. Nimoy both liked and replied to. Silly, I know, but still it felt great.

    My introduction to Star Trek was as a child staying frequently with my grandmother (being dragged to church, of course) and, as this was the early ’80’s, with only 5 channels!!! on the TV, I was lucky enough to be “forced” to watching old TV show reruns and corny sci-fi movies from years past. I treasure those lost moments, which included my now beloved Star Trek, but also Godzilla, King Kong, and numerous giant radioactive insects that terrorized humanity. I wish I could have directly said thank you Mr. Nimoy and the rest of the crew for making this such a wonderful part of my childhood. LLAP.

  36. Sorry to say I never had the slightest interest in Star Trek growing up as I was a massively insecure snob who thought it looked too uncool, but I thought his final tweet was so lovely I had to say something, and from everything I saw of Nimoy he seemed like a genuinely charming guy who played a righteous character in Dr. Spock.

    I was going to sign off with ‘live long and may the force be with you’, just for the craic of course, but I thought I might get lynched, so I’ll just go with LLAP.

    1. live long and may the force be with you

      I think Mr. Nimoy would at least have smiled, if not laughed. He wasn’t stuck up and had a good sense of humor.

      …bonus points, of course, would have been, “Live long and may the schwartz be with you!”

      b&

          2. As a child of the 70s Dr. Spock screwed up my childhood whole Mr. Spock made it way better.

      2. “may the schwartz be with you”(mimes something going over his head). In-joke? Jewish humour? It’s like a secret language with you Trekkies…
        Ah, just googled it. Spaceballs…slightly passed me by as I was six when it came out. My dad was my educator in cinema and at that age he was showing me comedies like Sleeper, Naked Gun and Withnail & I. So if he wasn’t a fan of Mel Brooks…actually I’ve just remembered that we did rent Spaceballs but he thought it was so bad we stopped twenty minutes in. This kind of caprice was standard practice with him really. His taste was generally excellent, so I got to watch loads of fantastic Coppolla, Scorsese, Woody Allen, Ridley Scott movies before I’d even turned ten(I didn’t sleep for a week after watching Alien), but if he didn’t particularly want to watch Orson Welles mumble his way through the original Transformers cartoon-movie there was no way I was going to talk him around, and if he particularly disliked a film he obviously had right of veto, not only on the film in question but quite often on any film that anyone even tangentially connected with it might make in the future.

          1. I may do that, although I may also require remuneration if I don’t like it. I’m sure you understand Ben – my time is extremely valuable and I can’t be following recommendations that divert me from my busy ‘videogames and Maltesers’ schedule.

          2. If you don’t like it, your remuneration will, Shirley, come in the form of having confidence that you’re surrounded by Assholes, including at least one Major Asshole.

            Is that sufficient?

            b&

          3. No, and don’t call me Shirley. That’s the only reference I got! I think.
            The rest…suck, blow, jam, asshole – it all sounded rather sexual frankly. It took a googling of ‘major asshole'(which certainly threw up some eye-opening results) before I had a clue what you were talking about. Sometimes this comments section makes me question my sanity.

  37. Nimoy was a regular guest star in the old mid to late 50s Sea Hunt TV series. He invariably played the role of a heavy — most typically a highly stereotyped revolutionary from an always unnamed banana republic.

  38. The original series is the only Star Trek I liked. I remember one statement if his that may be biologically incorrect.

    Discussing an alien race he said something like “they are as highly evolved above us as we are above the amoeba.”

  39. In the past 20 years I remember seeing him in ads for Star Trek movies and thinking “it’s great he’s still around”. Mr. Spock will always be a poor caricature compared to Leonard Nimoy who in life was very thoughtful, friendly, generous, and charismatic. It’s little wonder fans and friends will miss him; he was far more likable than any character he ever played.

  40. I first saw Star Trek (in NZ) in the 70’s on a black and white TV at 4 pm on a Saturday afternoon. I was about 8. I must have walked in halfway through the show because I didn’t even know what it was called but I remember the episode (The Paradise Syndrome) and it was amazing. I remember trying to describe it to kids at school. Later on it moved to a 6.30 slot on a week night and I had to sprint home from cubs so as to not miss the start.

    I think Spock was always my favourite character. Not being interested in sport there weren’t a lot of heroes to look up to. The way he applied science and logic to problems really spoke to me and as a character there was always the tension between his human side and vulcan side (something I can relate to), the never-ending journey to find out who he was. Trek went on to do this with so many characters later; Data, Odo, Seven of Nine. There was also an ongoing funny guy straight man routine with Dr McCoy which highlighted his human side.

    I have learned a lot from Spock, try and keep cool under pressure, evaluate the data then make decisions, surround yourself with a good crew and most of all embrace whatever you are, human/vulcan, human/robot, whatever!

    2. Voyager’s Seven of Nine, and, while I haven’t yet seen that series much, The Doctor holodeck tech AI I think.

      Maybe a bit overkill if so, but The Doctor were even more removed from basic human experience than Data or Seven, and so the character could be motivated. That wasn’t Spock’s problem at all, if anything he had too much contact with and tension between his different biological and cultural sides.

  41. To be sad is… illogical. Nevertheless I find myself emotional. Fascinating.

    Spock will live long and prosper on the scene. But it was Nimoy who transformed the forgettable ‘romulan’ crew member of the pilot to … well, it has already been said better:

    “Of my friend, I can only say this: Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most… human.”

    1. We are all on cruises, of various durations, aboard the Kobyashi Maru. (Re: Hitch’s vivid descriptor of being shot from our mother’s uterus toward a barn door covered with rusty nails, files, and hooks.)

  42. I saw a few science teachers at the Edmonton Teachers’ Conference yesterday with black arm bands.

  43. I went to see the first of the recent Star Trek movies in the huge theater not far from Lincoln Center in Manhattan. When Leonard Nimoy appeared as Spock from the past, I expected the audience to erupt into applause. Not a peep. Did these young people have no idea who that was? That he originated the character? I will miss you greatly, Mr. Nimoy.

Comments are closed.