Leonard Nimoy Was More Than Spock To Me

   Let me take you back to a childhood. My childhood, in fact. 

   It's the early 70s, and Star Trek, the seminal TV series that spawned the sci-fi convention business that we all take for granted today, had been off the air for only a few years. These were the years when Trek was in syndication and we could see maybe two episodes every week, or sometimes an episode every weekday. 

   In 1974, I looked at the paper's TV listings and saw that there was a new Star Trek cartoon series starting in the fall. By then, Leonard Nimoy had already started doing his series seeking answers on the unexplained called In Search Of. So, in those early years of my life, I got to see Leonard Nimoy on television a lot. 

   You could say that the sound of Nimoy's voice is as important to me as the sound of a heartbeat, or the soothing voice of my mother, and possibly even the voice of Hall of Fame baseball announcer of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Vin Scully. 

   Nimoy's presence in my life was so frequent, that he was more than an actor or a narrator to me. He was a guide. He steered me toward logical thinking as Spock, he steered the Enterprise out of danger, and as a film director on several Trek films, he steered our hearts into bigger and better cinematic experiences.

   Leonard Nimoy's Spock character became as iconic in the 60s and 70s as the most well-known faces in pop culture. And while there was a time when he disliked his association with just this one character, he later embraced it, as fans of his work always did. 

   Many years after my initial obsession with Star Trek began, I had the privilege of seeing Leonard Nimoy speak to an audience of very dedicated fans at a Star Trek convention in the early 90s. By then, Nimoy had been doing conventions on and off for around twenty years, but he was always engaging, always funny, and I had never seen a convention crowd get so excited to see a Trek cast member. It was like he embodied everything we liked about the show. If there was a way to tap into the energy in that room and convert it to electricity, it would have been able to power a small city. (At least, a fleet of Priuses. Or, is the plural of Prius, "Prii," as in "pree-EYE?")

   I don't have any autograph or photo of him, as that is not my thing, but I have his image in my memory from that night, and I can recall the image of him standing on the convention stage whenever I want. I just can't show anyone, and that's okay. That's okay.

   More than anything else, I respected Nimoy in anything he did because he was able to use his deep voice and his superior acting skills to make the part his own. Star Trek took up the bulk of his professional life, but he did many non-Trek shows, cartoons, plays, and projects that didn't need him to glue on fake ears and shave part of his eyebrows to work. I hope people will spend the time to look at some of his non-Trek work to see his range of talents.

   Nimoy wanted to be known for more than just one role, and while that goal was not realistically possible, it didn't stop him from being a very prolific actor, writer, and director.

   His voice is now silenced, like that of many others from my childhood, but I can always hear it in a TV episode, or a radio play, or in a TV interview. His voice is recorded for all time, and for that, I am thankful.

   I think it's fitting that this tribute end with probably my favorite quote so far on the passing of this wonderful man. It's from fellow Star Trek cast member and friend, George Takei:

"The word extraordinary is often overused, but I think it's really appropriate for Leonard. He was an extraordinarily talented man, but he was also a very decent human being."

   Rest in Peace, Leonard Nimoy. You left the world better than when you entered it.