Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Goodbye, Scotty

Final Space voyage for Scotty's ashes

Actor James Doohan, 85, died of pneumonia and Alzheimer's at his home. And as fitting tribute, there's a plan to blast some of his ashes into space. I won't type the expected pun, but of all the characters on Star Trek, his was the most personable, the one you wanted to be a favourite uncle who would come into to town with some bootlegged Romulan Ale. Although I know good actors can play very different characters, James Doohan always seemed to infuse some of his own personality into Scott.

When I was growing up, I had a terrible crush on Chekov, my favourite, but I liked most of all in terms of personality McCoy and Scotty. It's a shame that these two would be the first to pass. Like most anything to do with Star Trek, they became a sort of icon of our times, someone virtually anyone who had been exposed to a television recognises, even if not a die-hard Trekkie. That's a kind of immortality most people dream of, you know.

Anyway, I'm sorry to see him go, and wish his family and friends well.

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