Remembering Leonard Nimoy and Mr. Spock

One of my favoritememories growing up was late Saturday night television on PBS, which for several years aired triple episodes of "Star Trek."

While it was aired on channel 17 here and there and at one time used to be filler leading up to prime time on some local networks, it was the three-show mini-marathons on PBS that really hooked me on "Star Trek" and led me to journey with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock on that five-year mission "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before. …"

Granted these episodes were usually not in exact order, but it was those late nights that introduced me to "Mirror, Mirror," tribbles, Harry Mudd, the Gorn and of course the warlike Klingons and mysterious Romulans.

Spock, portrayed by Leonard Nimoy, was my favorite character at the time and I found him fascinating, a word he often used to describe situations that were new or novel for himself as well. It was with great sadness last Friday that I learned of Nimoy's passing. I can still picture him on the deck of the Enterprise chatting with Kirk and Dr. McCoy about philosophy, the dialogue that almost always ended with a raised eyebrow from our favorite half-Vulcan.

I can remember some great Spock-centered episodes, with one of my personal favorites being "MIrror, Mirror."

In that episode a transporter malfunction sends Kirk, Lt. Uhura and Scotty, the engineer, into an alternate universe run by a tyrannical empire instead of the benevolent United Federation of Planets. In that episode a ruthless Spock deduces that the party does not belong to his universe and eventually beams them back to their own universe.

Another episode I remember fondly is"Journey to Babel," and my favorite part is thedialogue at the end between Spock and his father,Sarek.

Sarek ends up in the sick bay and needs a transfusion, and Spock is persuaded by his mother to provide it, but not before she slaps him. The father and son duo end up exasperating Amanda, his mother, and McCoy with their logical discussion about the transfusion.

I was looking for some synopsis information and I found this quote, which ironically was a foreshadowing of what came later in the second life "Star Trek" was given on the big screen. There was an episode called "Galileo Seven." In that episode, Spock is in charge of an away team on the shuttle which is attacked by giants.

He attempts to logically deal with the situation he is in only to have the crew view him as being uncommunicative and uncaring. He eventually succeeds in winning over the team and saving the crew. This episode has a line of dialogue related to a dead crewman.

Spock says to McCoy, "It is more rational to sacrifice one life than six, doctor." It is an interesting piece of dialogue which we hear in a slightly altered format in the movie "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."

In that movie, Spock and Kirk are having a final conversation as Spock stood dying in the reactor of the Enterprise, having sacrificed himself to save the crew. Kirk is devastated to see his old friend dying on the other side of the glass.

Spock chastises him to not be sad. He repeats to him a saying he had spoken earlier in the movie. Ironically most people do not remember the first time the line was uttered, but they do remember it the second time as Spock is absorbing lethal levels of radiation.

Spock says to Kirk, "The needs of the many …" and Kirk continues, "outweighs the needs of the few," to which Spock adds, "or the one."

His last words to Kirk are "I have been, and always shall be, your friend. Live long and prosper." And he dies. It was one of the most emotional Star Trek moments, if not the most touching I can recall in the entire series.

Of course, Spock does return in the next movie as Kirk and company rescue him from the Genesis planet and they eventually find their way home. Spock continues to live and prosper through the rest of the original crew movies and then interestingly enough appears in the reboot of Star Trek by J.J. Abrams.

In the new film series, an ancient Spock manages to appear in an alternate universe where he provides keen insights from his centuries of experience to a fledgling Enterprise crew. I thought of all these good memories and how much Star Trek touched my life. I thought about how blessed we were that the actor Leonard Nimoy brought Spock to life so many times over the decades.

In addition to Star Trek, he captured my imagination as well in the weekly mystery series he hosted in the 1970s called "In Search of …" which prompted my lifelong fascination with the unknown.

Each week he explored natural and supernatural mysteries of the world, many of which I have written columns about including bigfoot, UFOs, magick, ghosts, the pyramids and more. Each half-hour episode led us to the far corners of the globe and explored these topics with a serious investigative slant and piqued my curiosity ever since.

We will be blessed to have Leonard Nimoy be a part of our lives each time Star Trek is viewed, discussed and experienced by new generations, but it is with great sadness that we say goodbye to the person. At 83, Nimoy let us but he always will be our friend. May he finally touch the stars, and as one of many fans, may I just say we will miss you and we thank you for creating such a rich character with so much meaning. Live long and prosper, Spock.

Till next time …