Tribute to Leonard Nimoy
The passing of Leonard Nimoy was very sad for me. There are a lot of fantastic actors in Hollywood who play wonderful characters but there is no character as memorable to me as Mr. Spock. He’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and I love him as if he were a real person.
My fondness for Star Trek began when I was a little girl. I remember sitting on my dad’s lap watching Saturday Star Trek marathons. We bonded over it and I grew to love the show as much as he did.
When the first movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, came out, Dad took the whole family and we got Star Trek happy meals from McDonalds. Being the oldest of seven children, it was extremely rare for all of us to go out to see a movie AND get a meal, even at McDonalds.
A few years later, the entire family went to see Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan which was shown as a double feature with Annie. (Isn’t that an awesome tagline by the way?)
This movie changed how I thought about storytelling forever. In the movie, Mr. Spock sacrifices himself for the ship, for his friend. I was only twelve when I saw it and I cried and cried. In fact, I was pretty much inconsolable.
Read the Colleen Houck Article on Grief
He is suffering, dying, and yet he stands up and straightens his uniform. He’s blind, but his words are not about what he’s going through. He simply attempts to explain the logic of his actions and comfort his friend. Even today when I watch that scene, I tear up. It’s so wrong and, yet, it’s exactly right.
Never in all the books I’ve read or the movies or television shows I’ve seen did the death of a character hit me so hard.
Because of my great love for Mr. Spock, I modeled a character after him. My Mr. Kadam in my Tiger’s Curse books is an intelligent, kind, thoughtful sort of man who sacrifices himself in a very similar fashion for those he loves. He is the best, most noblest character I’ve written. In fact there is a blog post about him and how I based him on Mr. Spock.
Read about Characters That Live Long And Prosper
When the tiger books first got picked up by my publisher, Sterling, they flew me out to New York. I got to do some really amazing things while I was there. I took a night tour on an open top bus and saw the awesome NYC skyline, I went out to dinner with agents and editors at some of the best restaurants I’ve ever been in, I got to see two Broadway shows, and, yet, the thing I got the most excited about was the fact that I was being recorded for a Barnes & Noble spot in the exact same studio that Leonard Nimoy had been in.
My dream was to someday meet him. He was kind man with a ready smile and an infectious laugh. I recently watched this Salt Lake Comic Con Skype video he did last year. He was patient and sweet with his fans. He quickly agreed to be a grandfather or a father to those who needed one.
I miss him and I’m feeling heartbroken that he has departed from this world. But I’d like to think that, maybe, his mission isn’t quite over yet. #LLAP, Live long and prosper Mr. Nimoy as you explore the final frontier.
Your fan,
Colleen Houck
