Lived long, and prospered

[Voronwë the Faithful]

We'll never forget you. Thanks for all of the memories.



Rest in Peace

[Sunsilver]

Leonard Nimoy has passed away from end-stage COPD, at the age of 83.

He delivered that line, "on that day, I shall mourn" in the Star Trek episode, "Requiem for Methuselah", as tribute to a man who had been Methuselah, Da Vinci, Brahms, Shakespeare and many other important characters in Earth's history.

Today I am using it in tribute to a multi-talented man who created an iconic character that made us step outside ourselves, and question what it truly meant to be a member of the human race.

R.I.P, Leonard. You and your legacy will not soon be forgotten!

[Sunsilver]

Nimoy's final tweet. He obviously knew his life was drawing to an end.

"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. Live long and prosper."

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I posted about this in the Cottage. I'll try to combine the two threads.

[Primula Baggins]

I heard this a few hours ago, in the car on the way to my writing group, and teared up enough that I almost pulled over. It's not just losing an actor I admired, though I certainly did admire him as an artist and a human being. But . . . Spock is gone, too. And I knew and loved Spock. I knew him all my life from the age of seven. A fundamental, a founding piece of my mental/moral/imaginative/SFnal universe is gone.

I followed Nimoy on Twitter, and appreciated his gentle avuncular presence—and that he went public with his CPOD and why he had it; that he smoked a long time, quit 30 years ago, but not soon enough. I'm sure his openness will save some other people from the same fate.

[Elentári]

A great man who will be remembered fondly... RIP Leonard

[Impenitent]

It feels like a curtain had been drawn across history. It's a strange thing that the death of one man i did not know should touch my life so poignantly, considering the horrors and cruelties and miracles that have occurred just within my short lifetime, and yet so it is. He loomed large on the world stage that was significant to me.

[JewelSong]

I've been in tears several times already about this news.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Voronwë the Faithful]

"Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy. Leonard was a lifelong lover of the arts and humanities, a supporter of the sciences, generous with his talent and his time. And of course, Leonard was Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the center of Star Trek’s optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity’s future.

I loved Spock.

In 2007, I had the chance to meet Leonard in person. It was only logical to greet him with the Vulcan salute, the universal sign for “Live long and prosper.” And after 83 years on this planet – and on his visits to many others – it’s clear Leonard Nimoy did just that. Michelle and I join his family, friends, and countless fans who miss him so dearly today."
-- Barack Obama

[Frelga]

I don't know what it is, but the beloved actors of the SF movies seem by and large to be good people off screen. Maybe it's the convention culture, or the characters they play, I don't know.

He will be missed.

[Primula Baggins]

It'll be interesting to see if anyone goes after Obama for "I loved Spock."

I would guess not. Obama's a general target, sure—but Spock is untouchable.

Still is.

[WampusCat]

I loved Spock from the first episode on. I not only loved the character, I wanted to BE the character.

The man who brought him to life so well intercepted my life in unexpected ways.

During the few short years of the original series' run, I was a Girl Scout. My troop leader told us one day that she knew Leonard Nimoy; they had become friends when both worked at an Army base in Georgia. We couldn't quite believe that someone we knew was actually friends with Mr. Spock himself, but it was true. She told him of our adoration, and Nimoy sent us all autographed photos of him as Spock. I'm sure I still have mine somewhere.

Years later, my younger brother was doing some mostly behind-the-scenes work with an Atlanta theater when Nimoy came to town to star in "Fiddler on the Roof." My brother had a tiny on-stage role: He helped to carry the canopy over the marrying couple. Nimoy was friendly and gracious to the entire cast, and he gave everyone involved a "L'Chaim" symbol on a necklace after the last performance. My brother said he told them how much it meant to him performing in that show because he himself was Jewish. For some reason I had never known that.

I will always be grateful for how he brought the character of Spock to life, and remain impressed with how he lived his subsequent life: with integrity, humor and intelligent compassion.

[Primula Baggins]

Yes. Among the many tributes I've seen online today, I can't place the most telling, but the person said that if you loved Spock and found out more about Nimoy, Nimoy was exactly the person you hoped he would be. As we all know, that isn't the case all that often with beloved characters or even beloved actors. He had integrity in the real sense: he was the same person all the way through. He brought that to Spock and made him a character for the ages.

[Sunsilver]

The Vulcan salute has its roots in Judaism!

To quote an interview with Nimoy:

In the blessing, the Kohanim (a high priest of a Hebrew tribe) makes the gesture with both hands, and it struck me as a very magical and mystical moment. I taught myself how to do it without even knowing what it meant, and later I inserted it into “Star Trek.”

The man was SO interesting, so multi-faceted! He actually helped the town of Vulcan, Alberta become the official Star Trek capital of Canada, and when J.J. Abram's movie premiered, he campaigned for Vulcan to be the first place it was shown. Sadly, the studio chose Calgary over Vulcan, but Nimoy arranged for the citizens of Vulcan to be bussed to Calgary for the premiere.

Nimoy was an avid photographer and one of the more interesting projects he did was a series of photos of plus-sized women. The idea behind it was to change peoples' perception of women's bodies, away from the fashion industry's pencil-thin ideal.

A worthy goal, indeed!

[Elentári]

Fascinating!

Thanks for that, Sunny.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

He also wrote a play based on Vincent Van Gogh's letters.

[Teremia]

He made it cool to be cerebral. But Nimoy, like the character he played, also valued culture, the arts, loyalty and kindness.

Well done, Mr. Nimoy!

(And for some reason I'm also sniffling because a part of my childhood has lurched away: the crinkly, flimsy tin edges of the TV dinners we had ONLY when watching Star Trek when our parents had gone out for the night and a babysitter was left in charge. Star Trek felt very serious and grown up! We watched it, and especially Spock, with respect.)

[Primula Baggins]

I watched it with my mom. It was one of our things we did together, like getting up early and watching rocket launches.

[Sunsilver]

I figured this might not be on most of the U.S. newsfeeds about Nimoy, and it's very interesting reading. Nimoy went above and beyond in his efforts to make Vulcan, Alberta a special place:

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybr ... 12996.html

[eborr]

It's a bit like the day John Peel went, someone who had been around all of your life. The accounts of him that are being shared here and elsewhere simply substantiate everthing I believed him about him. Did anyone else feel that in the Star Trek reboot movie he wasn't acting at all, that was just Leonard