Farewell to Spock: Leonard Nimoy – 1931-2015

by Tim Bustin

“Loss of life is to be mourned, but only if the life is wasted” – Spock

Astronaut Terry Virts' tribute to Leonard Nimoy from outer space 

In the final minutes of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Captain Kirk leads the Enterprise in mourning the loss of their fallen Vulcan colleague: “Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most human.” 

Fans were misled by Leonard Nimoy’s first autobiography, titled I Am Not Spock, for, after some years of love-hate and eventual embracing, the real-life Spock in many respects became its actor: intelligent, kind, an advocate for science, an inspiration to adventurers. “Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy” said President Obama - and certainly Nimoy/Spock, was cool. From The Big Bang Theory to the modern Star Trek films, from pop videos (check out the hilarious “The Lazy Song – Alternative Take” below) to even playing a Transformer, Nimoy had a wonderful sense of humour and fun. His Simpsonscameos (a self-depreciating parody of himself, with corny lines like “A solar eclipse – the cosmic ballet goes on”) have been dubbed as “one of the best… ever.” 

However, don’t be fooled that he wasn’t a great talent, for all his self-deprecation. Three Emmy nominations came his way for portraying Mr. Spock, and he even directed some of the Star Trek feature films (and others later, such as Three Men And A Baby). After the original Star Trek series, he was a regular in shows such as Mission: Impossible, and delved into voice work. 

Later, Nimoy branched out in so many directions, including his love of photography (some of his work was displayed at the Massachussetts Museum of Contemporary Art) and music (Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space, his debut album, was so successful that it spawned four more space music albums). A writer, both in film and literature (and comic books), perhaps the title of his second autobiography is one of the best measures of the man: I Am Spock.

Although, unlike in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, there is no chance of resurrection (despite what his Futurama cameoed head might have to say about it), we should know that this is logical for all of us (from Leonard Nimoy's final tweet):

LLAP – Leonard Nimoy, 23^rd February 2015