In 1975, when Leonard Nimoy was 45-years-old, he wrote a book titled, I Am Not Spock.
Some 20 years later, he wrote another book, a follow-up (of sorts), titled I Am Spock.
One finds oneself strangely heartened by Leonard Nimoy’s eventual acceptance of his iconic status — and the colossal shadow his most famous character cast.
What accounts for the sheer size of that shadow?
Answer: Spock represents eternal ideas, timeless themes, and that is why his character — and, for that matter, Star Trek — endures and will continue to endure.
However campy it may (or may not) now seem, Star Trek never ceased in its ultimate mission: to explore the question of what it means to be alive and human.
Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the original Star Trek series, was greatly influenced by The Twilight Zone, which came right before Star Trek, and indeed it was The Twilight Zone that popularized the use of science fiction as a vehicle for philosophical ideas.
From this standpoint, it was an ingenious method for probing the role of reason in human life.
That, I believe, largely accounts for Spock’s timeless appeal.
Leonard Nimoy was born March 26th, 1931, in the West End of Boston: Leonard Simon Nimoy, son of Max and Doris Nimoy — both Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jewish immigrants from Iziaslav, now part of present-day Ukraine — and he is exactly four days younger than his Star Trek co-star, William (“Common People“) Shatner.
He lived long, and he prospered.
Leonard Nimoy, RIP.