Friday, February 27th 2015, a man who was an integral part of shaping my childhood dreams left the stage. Leonard Nimoy who was best known for his portrayal of..(wait, do I really need to say?) succumbed to late stage COPD.
I will sidestep the usual listing of his career accomplishments. There are many fine sites out there that do it better than I ever would. I will just say that as the heart and soul of “Star Trek”, he was the glue that brought everything together and made that program not only a wonderful escape to other worlds but also the catalyst for generations of fans to pursue careers in science, space, and in my case, the arts.
I always hoped that I would one day get to meet Mr. Nimoy to shake his hand and maybe let him know what the show meant to me. Well, as it turns out, I got to meet him twice; once by accident and once by arrangement. Both times were somewhat embarrassing. The second time was much worse than the first. Let’s just say I didn’t get much of a chance to praise him before we were ushered out the door. While I had been annoyed throughout the years about the missed opportunity, it did make for an amusing story. Now that he has passed, I find that the embarrassment has washed away and in it’s place is a deep sense of gratitude that I actually did get to meet him.
Some day, down the road, I will relate the story behind this picture. It’s FUN!
For now, having been taken aback by the announcement of Mr. Nimoy’s passing, I needed to do something. So, I put aside my current project and it’s pressing deadline, and just painted a little something for me.
Thank you so much for all you gave to the world! Rest easy, Mr. Spock!