Saturday, February 28, 2015

Rest in Peace Leonard Nimoy

As I am sure you have all ready heard, Leonard Nimoy passed away yesterday due to complications from COPD.  A unique actor best known for portraying Mr. Spock on Star Trek.

He certainly left a mark upon me as when I was young.  Star Trek was one of three science fiction shows regularly broadcast on a local independent station (Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica being the other two).  I identified with the character Spock more than the others not only due to intelligence and interest in science but also his ability to control emotions.  There were (and still are) many times when I wished I could control my emotions as well as Mr. Spock.  While I wouldn't want to suppress all emotions as his character did, the control certainly would be an advantage.

I also could identify with his Mr Spock being the alien, or odd man out.  So often as a child, I was the one that didn't fit in, being the one trying to figure out all these illogical persons.  Now while I am certainly human, I am what has often been called an old soul, or aged beyond my years.  This made it difficult to understand other children, very similar to Mr Spock's situation on the Enterprise who also bore the brunt of the jokes.  So again this character had a strong influence on me.  And in fact my love of Science Fiction started with Star Trek.

Nimoy's other work was quite varied and even included poetry.  Something I did not know until recently.  But I think his most unique aspect was his voice.  It is so distinctive, even more than his acting.  His voice with its special tone and inflections always left one wanting to hear more.  This gave a special touch to any audio work including everything from documentaries to animation to video games.  Try to think of Transformer's Sentinel Prime with any other voice than Nimoy's, it just doesn't work.

He maybe gone, but his legacy will live on.  Rest in peace Mr. Nimoy.  I only wish I could have shook your hand.

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