On February 27th our community lost one of its vanguard. His work and its influence needs no further elaboration on these pages; indeed, these pages would likely never have been created had not Mr Spock in The Voyage Home captured the imagination of our then-10-year-old editor in a rainy caravan park in the north of England.
The team here think on Leonard Nimoy fondly, and below share some of our memories of him and our sadness at his passing.
Kevin Gilmartin – My first experience of Leonard Nimoy as Spock was in the late 80s, maybe 1990. It was a family holiday to a dreaded caravan park (mercifully, the only one we ever visited), during a particularly rainy Northern English evening when we couldn’t leave the caravan The Voyage Home came on TV.
My dad being a massive Trekkie (none of your Trekker nonsense in our household, true Trek fans don’t get pissy about trivial labels) we sat down to watch it and I remember belly laughing as he delivered, dead-pan, some of the funniest lines of the franchise (“is it time for another colourful metaphor?“), and loving the moment when he nerve-pinched the punk on the bus. From that moment my fate as a Trekkie, sci-fi fan and all-round geek was sealed.
It was only many years later that I realised that I had been previously exposed to Leonard as the voice of the terrifying Galvatron in Transformers the Movie, another defining movie of my childhood. Laugh if you like, but Optimus Prime is a hero with principles and convictions that any parent would do well to instill in their child!
Laterally, of course, he played William Bell in Fringe and with such brilliance that you loved him and then hated him in equal measure, never seeing the duplicity coming until it was on top of you.
I think it’s fitting, however, that his final on-screen performance was a return to Spock with his appearances in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek movies alongside his very worthy successor, Zachary Quinto.
Geekdom will miss you Leonard, but you owe us nothing. We owe you more than I think you would ever have acknowledged. Rest easy, sir.
Stuart Hatton, Jr – As a child I was always mesmerised by the character of Spock. His perfect observations of the imperfect flaws of the human race were always very clearly logical. Being heavily inspired by his Vulcan observations, Spock’s mantra has lead me into the world of adulthood with a clear mind, where I am always thinking outside the box and where I am accompanied with a refreshing outlook on life that differs from those around me.
Obviously, I am aware that Mr Spock is a character in a television Show, played by the late, great Leonard Nimoy, who brought the soul and the face to the character but if it wasn’t for his perfect portrayal of a half-human Vulcan, I would most certainly not be thinking the way I think and I would not have made the judgements and decisions I have made that led me to becoming Mr Gay World. For this I thank Leonard Nimoy and send his spirit lots of positive light as he moves onto the next big adventure on the final frontier. Live Long and Prosper.
Wes May – While I came to Star Trek long after it had gone off the air, I still gravitated to Leonard Nimoy’s Spock as so many had done before. Over the years and through appearances on all manner of sci-fi/fantasy series, his legend only grew. A true gentleman….and a class act. His contribution to the entertainment world and to the imaginations of tens of millions of fans cannot be over stated. I’m absolutely heartbroken to hear of his passing. Rest well Mr Nimoy, and thanks for everything.
Owen Willams – Each weekend, from infancy until we were about 13, my twin brother James and I went to our grandparents. Saturdays were for American action shows like The A Team and Knight Rider. Sundays were spent watching classics like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants. It was these shows that turned me into the geek that I am today but, above all, there was Star Trek. We loved it beyond all other shows. It was fun and fantastic in every regard. I vividly remember being terrified at the jellyfish thing which slapped itself on Spock’s back during one episode, and probably didn’t sleep that night.
That perfect triumvirate of Kirk, McCoy and Spock will forever be one of the greatest triumphs of sci-fi. Their banter and friendship is what brought us back each week. Leonard Nimoy was not just Spock, but it is that role which made me want to soak up the genre. When he ‘died’ in Wrath of Khan I was genuinely upset and it still remains one of my favourite films, despite the fact that I still get a lump in my throat when watching it.
Leonard Nimoy helped shape my character, from my love of all things geek to my sceptical nature, based on logic and reason. From now on, when faced with new claims or opinions, I am going to ask myself one simple question: What Would Spock Do?
Matthew Rutland – Jeez. What to say? Regardless of Star Trek‘s hardcore nerd following, the popularity of the show was due to the two stars, Shatner and Nimoy. The fact that Nimoy transcended that nerd niche to become a pop-culture icon is no fluke either. Just looking at the huge outpouring on social media from those who don’t even like Star Trek shows how deeply his character is embedded into the cultural psyche.
Personally I tried very hard to get into Star Trek but always floundered, but he was always my favourite from the original series and films. But just a brief look through Nimoy’s resume unearths a plethora of other favourites in which he either lent his talents as an actor or as a vocal talent – the much-acclaimed 1986 Transformers animated movie a particular favourite for myself.
Such a big character, but a gentle soul as well, his personality, not unlike those of other gentle souls like the late Andy Hallett leaves a huge gap in the collective hearts of the Geek fraternity, and much like his iconic death scene in The Wrath of Khan, he will always be long remembered and loved long after his passing. He did manage to do what so many crave, he achieved immortality by living a life worth remembering.
Dario Persechino – I am devastated. I got the news by text when I was at a bar and felt the breath knocked out of me. All I wanted to do was go somewhere quiet and weep.
I was more heavily influenced by Star Trek growing up that anything else. The original series shaped me and my view of the world. My view that our small species could be something greater if we reached for the stars. My heroes were the crew of the Enterprise and there are sadly few left. I am ’emotionally compromised.’
I try to hold back tears now as a I think of a mentor, a hero, a friend I never met. The embodiment of the idea that intellect can rule over our baser passions.
We walk to the stars because you showed us the way.
Les Anderson – This man was a huge part of my childhood and then continued to be so right up until today. When he came to Edinburgh nigh-on 20 years ago to promote I Am Spock I was fortunate enough to see him at the Assembly Rooms and was bowled over by his charm and graciousness even at a distance. The biggest thrill for me when Star Trek came back to the big screen was seeing him reprise Spock one more time and hitting it out of the park. A major loss.
Michael Flett – It was in 1995 that I first saw Leonard speak; Waterstones had announced that he was coming to Edinburgh in support of I Am Spock, the second volume of his autobiography. I remember standing and staring at the poster trying to comprehend what I was seeing, trying to work out something I was missing. Leonard Nimoy couldn’t be coming to Edinburgh, he simply couldn’t. It just wasn’t a place which was within his orbit.
The demand for tickets shocked Waterstones, and it was quickly moved from an in-store talk and signing to the Assembly Halls at the top of the Mound, later the home to the Scottish Government before the Parliament Building was completed. With a capacity of 1,250, it was sold out, and we arrived over an hour ahead of doors open to find the queue stretched all the way along the Mound and up George IV Bridge.
We didn’t get great seats, but it didn’t matter. He was there, onstage, warm, witty, chatty, delighted to speak to his adoring audience. He didn’t take himself at all seriously, even though he spoke seriously about his work. My flatmate had asked me to get her a ticket as well, even though she had no interest in science fiction, and I asked her why. “But it’s Leonard Nimoy,” she explained. Science fiction fan or no, he was an icon of her childhood, too.
My only regret was that the evening was didn’t last as long as it could have; as Leonard said, he understood a lot of us were keen to get home to watch television (it was the night of the infamous Martin Bashir interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, on Panorama). I would rather have spent more time with Leonard. Understandably, there was no signing afterwards, though the copies of I Am Spock on sale were all presigned in black sharpie.
It was in May 2005, shortly before I moved back from England to Scotland that Leonard was announced as a guest for the Milton Keynes Collectormania, and despite the cost and the general inconvenience of public transport, my mother and made the arrangements. Leonard’s queue was never less than a hundred deep, but we got to meet him. He had been alternating between personalising and not depending how far behind he got; our autographs were during a “not” period, very much “sign and go, sign and go,” but as we thanked him and mentioned Edinburgh, he immediately stopped and spoke to us about how much he had enjoyed that night.
In the photo session, the gentleman ahead of us was disabled; rather than rushing through, Leonard again stopped to make sure he was settled and comfortable and happy with the pose, checking with the photographer that the shot was good. He smiled for everyone, shook hands, and when we thanked him, he turned and thanked us.
I remember crying silently in the cinema in August 1982 when Spock died, hoping nobody would see. I think I’ve been preparing for this moment ever since, and now it’s here, I’m as ready as I can be. When J J remade Star Trek in 2009, the first thing that made me interested was the casting of Karl Urban, the second was Leonard’s agreement to participate, and to this day I think he was robbed of an Oscar nomination, because I have never seen him better.
When Star Trek Into Darkness was released, I was there at the midnight screening. We suspected Benedict was playing Khan, but we didn’t know Leonard would have a cameo. I genuinely thought we had seen him for the last time three years before. Yes, it was utterly superfluous and it was indulgent, but it was wonderful just to see him on screen, to know that not only would J J use any excuse to involve him, but that the new characters needed him the same way we always had.
Spock was a character conceived as cold and unemotional, detached and rational, but in the last few days with his picture appearing on every newspaper, every news feed, all I see in that face is love, warmth and comfort. He made every situation understandable, he made everyone welcome. Great deeds transcend death, and he gave us fifty years of inspiration. He would not want us to mourn, he would want us to remember and celebrate and grow and do well for those about us, and that is the best way we can honour him.
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The GC team remembers Leonard Nimoy
On February 27th our community lost one of its vanguard. His work and its influence needs no further elaboration on these pages; indeed, these pages would likely never have been created had not Mr Spock in The Voyage Home captured the imagination of our then-10-year-old editor in a rainy caravan park in the north of England.
The team here think on Leonard Nimoy fondly, and below share some of our memories of him and our sadness at his passing.
Kevin Gilmartin – My first experience of Leonard Nimoy as Spock was in the late 80s, maybe 1990. It was a family holiday to a dreaded caravan park (mercifully, the only one we ever visited), during a particularly rainy Northern English evening when we couldn’t leave the caravan The Voyage Home came on TV.
My dad being a massive Trekkie (none of your Trekker nonsense in our household, true Trek fans don’t get pissy about trivial labels) we sat down to watch it and I remember belly laughing as he delivered, dead-pan, some of the funniest lines of the franchise (“is it time for another colourful metaphor?“), and loving the moment when he nerve-pinched the punk on the bus. From that moment my fate as a Trekkie, sci-fi fan and all-round geek was sealed.
It was only many years later that I realised that I had been previously exposed to Leonard as the voice of the terrifying Galvatron in Transformers the Movie, another defining movie of my childhood. Laugh if you like, but Optimus Prime is a hero with principles and convictions that any parent would do well to instill in their child!
Laterally, of course, he played William Bell in Fringe and with such brilliance that you loved him and then hated him in equal measure, never seeing the duplicity coming until it was on top of you.
I think it’s fitting, however, that his final on-screen performance was a return to Spock with his appearances in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek movies alongside his very worthy successor, Zachary Quinto.
Geekdom will miss you Leonard, but you owe us nothing. We owe you more than I think you would ever have acknowledged. Rest easy, sir.
Stuart Hatton, Jr – As a child I was always mesmerised by the character of Spock. His perfect observations of the imperfect flaws of the human race were always very clearly logical. Being heavily inspired by his Vulcan observations, Spock’s mantra has lead me into the world of adulthood with a clear mind, where I am always thinking outside the box and where I am accompanied with a refreshing outlook on life that differs from those around me.
Obviously, I am aware that Mr Spock is a character in a television Show, played by the late, great Leonard Nimoy, who brought the soul and the face to the character but if it wasn’t for his perfect portrayal of a half-human Vulcan, I would most certainly not be thinking the way I think and I would not have made the judgements and decisions I have made that led me to becoming Mr Gay World. For this I thank Leonard Nimoy and send his spirit lots of positive light as he moves onto the next big adventure on the final frontier. Live Long and Prosper.
Wes May – While I came to Star Trek long after it had gone off the air, I still gravitated to Leonard Nimoy’s Spock as so many had done before. Over the years and through appearances on all manner of sci-fi/fantasy series, his legend only grew. A true gentleman….and a class act. His contribution to the entertainment world and to the imaginations of tens of millions of fans cannot be over stated. I’m absolutely heartbroken to hear of his passing. Rest well Mr Nimoy, and thanks for everything.
Owen Willams – Each weekend, from infancy until we were about 13, my twin brother James and I went to our grandparents. Saturdays were for American action shows like The A Team and Knight Rider. Sundays were spent watching classics like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants. It was these shows that turned me into the geek that I am today but, above all, there was Star Trek. We loved it beyond all other shows. It was fun and fantastic in every regard. I vividly remember being terrified at the jellyfish thing which slapped itself on Spock’s back during one episode, and probably didn’t sleep that night.
That perfect triumvirate of Kirk, McCoy and Spock will forever be one of the greatest triumphs of sci-fi. Their banter and friendship is what brought us back each week. Leonard Nimoy was not just Spock, but it is that role which made me want to soak up the genre. When he ‘died’ in Wrath of Khan I was genuinely upset and it still remains one of my favourite films, despite the fact that I still get a lump in my throat when watching it.
Leonard Nimoy helped shape my character, from my love of all things geek to my sceptical nature, based on logic and reason. From now on, when faced with new claims or opinions, I am going to ask myself one simple question: What Would Spock Do?
Matthew Rutland – Jeez. What to say? Regardless of Star Trek‘s hardcore nerd following, the popularity of the show was due to the two stars, Shatner and Nimoy. The fact that Nimoy transcended that nerd niche to become a pop-culture icon is no fluke either. Just looking at the huge outpouring on social media from those who don’t even like Star Trek shows how deeply his character is embedded into the cultural psyche.
Personally I tried very hard to get into Star Trek but always floundered, but he was always my favourite from the original series and films. But just a brief look through Nimoy’s resume unearths a plethora of other favourites in which he either lent his talents as an actor or as a vocal talent – the much-acclaimed 1986 Transformers animated movie a particular favourite for myself.
Such a big character, but a gentle soul as well, his personality, not unlike those of other gentle souls like the late Andy Hallett leaves a huge gap in the collective hearts of the Geek fraternity, and much like his iconic death scene in The Wrath of Khan, he will always be long remembered and loved long after his passing. He did manage to do what so many crave, he achieved immortality by living a life worth remembering.
Dario Persechino – I am devastated. I got the news by text when I was at a bar and felt the breath knocked out of me. All I wanted to do was go somewhere quiet and weep.
I was more heavily influenced by Star Trek growing up that anything else. The original series shaped me and my view of the world. My view that our small species could be something greater if we reached for the stars. My heroes were the crew of the Enterprise and there are sadly few left. I am ’emotionally compromised.’
I try to hold back tears now as a I think of a mentor, a hero, a friend I never met. The embodiment of the idea that intellect can rule over our baser passions.
We walk to the stars because you showed us the way.
Les Anderson – This man was a huge part of my childhood and then continued to be so right up until today. When he came to Edinburgh nigh-on 20 years ago to promote I Am Spock I was fortunate enough to see him at the Assembly Rooms and was bowled over by his charm and graciousness even at a distance. The biggest thrill for me when Star Trek came back to the big screen was seeing him reprise Spock one more time and hitting it out of the park. A major loss.
Michael Flett – It was in 1995 that I first saw Leonard speak; Waterstones had announced that he was coming to Edinburgh in support of I Am Spock, the second volume of his autobiography. I remember standing and staring at the poster trying to comprehend what I was seeing, trying to work out something I was missing. Leonard Nimoy couldn’t be coming to Edinburgh, he simply couldn’t. It just wasn’t a place which was within his orbit.
The demand for tickets shocked Waterstones, and it was quickly moved from an in-store talk and signing to the Assembly Halls at the top of the Mound, later the home to the Scottish Government before the Parliament Building was completed. With a capacity of 1,250, it was sold out, and we arrived over an hour ahead of doors open to find the queue stretched all the way along the Mound and up George IV Bridge.
We didn’t get great seats, but it didn’t matter. He was there, onstage, warm, witty, chatty, delighted to speak to his adoring audience. He didn’t take himself at all seriously, even though he spoke seriously about his work. My flatmate had asked me to get her a ticket as well, even though she had no interest in science fiction, and I asked her why. “But it’s Leonard Nimoy,” she explained. Science fiction fan or no, he was an icon of her childhood, too.
My only regret was that the evening was didn’t last as long as it could have; as Leonard said, he understood a lot of us were keen to get home to watch television (it was the night of the infamous Martin Bashir interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, on Panorama). I would rather have spent more time with Leonard. Understandably, there was no signing afterwards, though the copies of I Am Spock on sale were all presigned in black sharpie.
It was in May 2005, shortly before I moved back from England to Scotland that Leonard was announced as a guest for the Milton Keynes Collectormania, and despite the cost and the general inconvenience of public transport, my mother and made the arrangements. Leonard’s queue was never less than a hundred deep, but we got to meet him. He had been alternating between personalising and not depending how far behind he got; our autographs were during a “not” period, very much “sign and go, sign and go,” but as we thanked him and mentioned Edinburgh, he immediately stopped and spoke to us about how much he had enjoyed that night.
In the photo session, the gentleman ahead of us was disabled; rather than rushing through, Leonard again stopped to make sure he was settled and comfortable and happy with the pose, checking with the photographer that the shot was good. He smiled for everyone, shook hands, and when we thanked him, he turned and thanked us.
I remember crying silently in the cinema in August 1982 when Spock died, hoping nobody would see. I think I’ve been preparing for this moment ever since, and now it’s here, I’m as ready as I can be. When J J remade Star Trek in 2009, the first thing that made me interested was the casting of Karl Urban, the second was Leonard’s agreement to participate, and to this day I think he was robbed of an Oscar nomination, because I have never seen him better.
When Star Trek Into Darkness was released, I was there at the midnight screening. We suspected Benedict was playing Khan, but we didn’t know Leonard would have a cameo. I genuinely thought we had seen him for the last time three years before. Yes, it was utterly superfluous and it was indulgent, but it was wonderful just to see him on screen, to know that not only would J J use any excuse to involve him, but that the new characters needed him the same way we always had.
Spock was a character conceived as cold and unemotional, detached and rational, but in the last few days with his picture appearing on every newspaper, every news feed, all I see in that face is love, warmth and comfort. He made every situation understandable, he made everyone welcome. Great deeds transcend death, and he gave us fifty years of inspiration. He would not want us to mourn, he would want us to remember and celebrate and grow and do well for those about us, and that is the best way we can honour him.
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