Remembering Leonard

The first time I met Leonard Nimoy was in Italy, at an Italian Star Trek convention.

I had wanted to see him the entire time that I was there, but my schedule never worked out so that I was free while he was with the fans. Desperately, I asked Julie Caitlin Brown (who was there overseeing his stay) if there was any way she could arrange an opportunity for me to have just a minute to say hi.

It turned out, much to my astonishment, that Leonard not only knew who I was, but was a fan of my work. I hope that doesn’t come across as self-aggrandizing because it’s not meant to. But he was, and I couldn’t have been happier.

I sat down with him for ten minutes in his dressing room and we chatted about his photography and angels and all sorts of things. Then he had to leave and I wound up being drafted to be part of the flying wedge of security that had to power him through a mob of about a hundred Italian Star Trek fans who were waiting for him at the exit door. So that was exciting.

The last time I saw him was at Dragon*Con, where I had the honor of presenting him with the Julie Award. He was sitting at the table nearest the stage, and with him were Bill Shatner and Kate Mulgrew. The part I remember most distinctly was when I said, “Thanks to Leonard Nimoy, Mister Spock is so beloved a character, that when he showed up in the ice cave in the recent movie, his appearance prompted the entire audience in the theater I was in to cheer and roar with approval…even though his being there made no story sense whatsoever.” Leonard almost fell over, he was laughing so hard, but the even better reaction was Shatner. I could read his lips as he was saying, “I told you! I told you that made no sense!”

I knew, as everyone else did, that he was having heart troubles. It’s ironic that that would be what took him considering that Nimoy had one of the biggest hearts of any individual I’ve ever encountered. I knew him a little; I would have loved to know him much better.