He Lived Long and Prospered
A Reflection on the life of Leonard Nimoy, a man who lived in the margins and Spock, the character that helped him do it.
Before bowties were cool and time travel was wibbly, wobbly and timey, wimey. Before Harry learned his first spell. Before Clone troopers clashed with droid soldiers. Before dinosaurs walked and talked in a land that existed before time. Before Luke Skywalker fought for his father’s soul. Before David Carridine took his death race. Before Bruce Lee brought kung fu to the big screen. Before all of this, there was one ship, one mission, and seven people that told the story that Gene Roddenberry had: a story of inclusion, scientific advancement, and hope.
Star Trek was a show before its time. The show was among the vanguard that dealt with topics that just weren’t talked about. Vietnam. Women’s rights. Cold War relations. Race relations. It might have even touched on gender or sexual orientation if it survived long enough to witness Stonewall Riots of late 1969. Probably because it was too progressive, the show found itself without enough of a strong viewership. It was cancelled after its second season and was granted a third season by an aggressive letter writing campaign.
Leonard Nimoy was central to so much of this “in the margins” storytelling. He brought Science Officer Spock to life. For those three seasons Nimoy, a Jewish actor in a Hollywood in an era when Jews were a punchline, offered America a mixed species character that voiced the blessings and curses of living in two worlds, at times unloved and unwanted and at other times beloved and wanted. Roddenberry and Nimoy granted Spock the ability wade into that margin and in so doing granted wisdom and strength to those who lived on the margins. Spock and Nimoy, the margin walkers both, saw each other face to face.
After a girl wrote to him about being mixed race, Nimoy responded to her as Spock and provided her with a pastoral response. When Nimoy discovered the pay discrepancy between Nichelle Nichols and her male co-stars, Nimoy demanded and succeeded in get Nichols pay raised to equal her shipmates. Co-star George Takei is a man that also lives on the margins with his struggles for marriage equality and other rights for homosexuals and being a voice for Japanese-American citizens who lived through internment. Takei is often seen since coming out with the Vulcan hand sign and proclaiming the Vulcan greeting, “Live Long and Prosper.”
Star Trek outlived its cancellations with conventions while Nimoy continued as a dedicated actor. Sadly, Nimoy went through a bit of an identity crisis during the early seventies. He did bit parts in other shows and films but Spock competed with his own career goals. Nimoy wrote I am Not Spock to differentiate himself from the larger than life character. This did not go unnoticed by the fans and many felt betrayed. Again Spock and Nimoy looked at each other face to face. Nimoy came to terms with his identity, career, and with Spock and eventually joined with his fellow Star Trek co-stars on the convention circuit.
The conventions helped spur conversations for a sequel television series that eventually led to the film series. In the first Star Trek film (1979), Nimoy found himself with a Spock who was tired of the “two-worlds” struggle, tired of living in the margins. Spock was set to give it all up for Vulcan monasticism, to escape the pressures of the world for a life of simplicity, solitude, lack of emotion, and pure logic. Later Spock would die, be reborn, and in the process suffer a measure of amnesia and eventual memory restoration. Spock was a brand new Spock, free to explore all the more the future he wanted for himself. He could one day tell this father openly and boldly that he felt fine. And Nimoy acted the part with dignity, poise, and passion. Nimoy then took the helm and directed the third and fourth films with that same dignity, poise, and passion. Nimoy updated his I am Not Spock in 1995 and renamed it I am Spock.
Spock left the monastery and in so doing waded ever deeper into the margins. He became a major player in Star Trek diplomacy, becoming a champion of peace. Only Nixon could go to China. Only Spock could go to Qo’noS (the Klingon homeworld). Nimoy too waded deeper into the margins.
Through photography, he explored the feminine aspects of God with his The Shekhina Project and gave full figured women the opportunity to yell to the world that they are sexy and proud with his Full Body Project. In television, documentaries, and his own comic book, Nimoy discussed the prospect of extraterrestrial life and first contact. Nimoy took to television and documentaries to advocate for scientific advancement and exploration. Nimoy provided his voice to video games, cartoons, and animated films for the sake of comedy and drama and did so with the same spirit of dignity, poise, and passion that he took to his films and television shows and in so doing helped elevate these younger mediums. Beyond The Shekhina Project, Nimoy supported other efforts that sought the empowerment of the Jewish community. He narrated a documentary about Hasidic Judaism. He discussed both Yiddish and his family history and the Jewish influences he brought into Spock and the Vulcans with the Yiddish Book Center. The marginalized Jew from Boston and the half-breed Science Officer again saw each other face to face.
Death was Leonard Nimoy’s last great hurtle. Some ten years ago he announced a retirement from acting and began walking around with an actuary clock, predicting the moment of his death. It was his first step in his process of mastering his impending death, owning the remaining years of his life. Nimoy built a legacy for himself in Hollywood, photography, his religion, and science fiction, fact, and possibility.
But what of Spock? Nimoy came out of retirement to jump at the opportunity J. J. Abrams offered. Nimoy was given a substantial role in helping to craft a new Star Trek and to help mentor the next actor to be Spock. Nimoy taught Zachary Quinto how to fly then let Quinto set his own course. Nimoy and Quinto saw each other face to face. Quinto and Spock saw each other face to face. Nimoy secured a future for Spock beyond himself and then let his companion go.
“Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy. Leonard was a lifelong lover of the arts and humanities, a supporter of the sciences, generous with his talent and his time. And of course, Leonard was Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the center of Star Trek’s optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity’s future. I love Spock” – President Barack Obama.
Leonard Nimoy lived in the margins. He played a character that presented living in the margins on the national stage of the big and small screens. Nimoy lived his life in the margins and made it look cool but never made it look easy. Living in the margins is hard. But Nimoy made it look like it was possible. As a result he lived long and prospered, the best any of us could ever hope to do.
As I struggle with living in the margins, I would think of Jesus, his disciples, and yes Leonard Nimoy. They remind me of that reality that living into the margins will be and is hard, but worth it and cool. Living into the margins as best I can has afforded me a measure of prosperity. I’ll have to get back to you about the living long.
Reflection by Carl J. Fosnaugh, IV 3/1/2015
Carl is a current member of the Floral House Community serving at Forward Movement and Christ Church Cathedral. Aside from icons (of which he has several), the Daily Office and high church worship are each strong parts of Carl’s spirituality. Carl is a self-described “huge nerd with loves of history, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, film, and Biblical languages.” Carl also practices the Korean sword-based martial art known as Moojung Gumdo