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Like any "Star Trek" fan, The Cricket shed a small tear this morning at the news that Leonard Nimoy — the man who embodied the half-Vulcan Mr. Spock from that show's inception — had died at the age of 83.

In the interest of nostalgia, here is an article from 1995, when The Cricket took part in a conference call with Nimoy — when he was promoting his autobiography, "I Am Spock." The quotes show how engaging and thoughtful Nimoy was, and how much he had reconciled his life with that of his iconic TV character.

Live long and prosper, indeed.

———

(Originally printed in The Salt Lake Tribune on October 27, 1995.)

By Sean P. Means

The Salt Lake Tribune

Leonard Nimoy confirms what a legion of "Star Trek'' fans has always believed: Spock lives.

"He's with me all the time,'' Nimoy says. "Sometimes he pops up and whispers in my ear, and sometimes he's quiet for a while. But he's there all the time.''

Nimoy renews his relationship with the logical, pointy-eared Vulcan in "I Am Spock" (Hyperion Books, $24.95), a breezy and (for want of a better word) fascinating memoir, in stores this week, that recounts how a "five-year mission'' became a 30-year enterprise.

Nimoy chose the title to correct a misconception started by his 1975 book "I Am Not Spock." In the earlier book, Nimoy tried to delineate between actor and character, but wound up alienating "Trek'' fans who thought he was rejecting the Vulcan.

Since then, Nimoy has embraced Spock, as well as a host of other career opportunities. He played Spock in six "Star Trek'' movies, as well as directing two of them (Nos. 3 and 4) and serving as executive producer on another (No. 6). He mounted a one-man play about the life of Vincent van Gogh. He starred in the TV miniseries "A Woman Called Golda'' and "Marco Polo,'' and gave a heartbreaking performance as a Holocaust survivor in the made-for-cable movie "Never Forget.'' He directed several non-"Trek'' films, notably the hit comedy "Three Men and a Baby'' and the drama "The Good Mother.''

Now, the actor says, there is no line between Nimoy and Spock — as demonstrated by the running dialogue between the two that peppers the book.

The actor came to this realization when filming a scene in 1991's "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,'' when Kirk commiserated with Spock after the Vulcan was betrayed by his protege. "Is it possible,'' Spock asks Kirk, "that we two, you and I, have grown so old and inflexible that we have outlived our usefulness?''

"The dialogue, of course, refers to Spock and Kirk in their usefulness to Starfleet,'' Nimoy recalls in a telephone press conference from Orlando, Fla. "I felt as I spoke the dialogue to Bill Shatner, that the question was equally applicable to Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner and their usefulness in `Star Trek.' The masks in the scene slipped away. I felt as though Spock and Nimoy had merged in that moment, and so had Kirk and Shatner.''

If the line sounds like a final curtain call for Spock, don't count on it. Nimoy thought the ride was over in 1969, when the original "Star Trek'' series was canceled after three seasons. He thought the same thing as he finished 1982's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'' — in which Spock was killed off.

"I thought it was over, I really did,'' Nimoy says. "I thought, `I'm coming in to die, to say goodbye and to walk away from all of this.' I had no expectation that there would be any more `Star Trek,' and I certainly had no expectation that there would be any more Spock.''

Mental Energy: Nimoy credits producer Harve Bennett, who asked him if there was any thread Nimoy could leave hanging, something a later screenwriter could pick up. So they contrived to have Spock perform a Vulcan mind-meld on Dr. McCoy, uttering a single word: "Remember.'' ("Star Trek III: The Search for Spock'' picked up that thread, showing that McCoy was holding Spock's katra, or mental energy — which was eventually restored to Spock's regenerated body.)

Nimoy's book relates anecdotes from the early days of "Star Trek,'' but assiduously avoids dishing dirt — unlike recent memoirs from some of his "Trek'' co-stars. Nimoy sympathizes that some of his "Star Trek'' colleagues, whom he considers friends, may harbor ill feelings over the years.

"When Bill Shatner was preparing to write his book [Star Trek Memories], he made the rounds of all of us, asking for time to discuss anecdotes and memories. When he came to me and spent some time at my home, he told me he was genuinely surprised at the resentments that he was discovering among some members of the cast,'' Nimoy says. "I chalk it up to people working in a hotbed kind of atmosphere, thrown together under tough working circumstances. Everybody with their own agenda, like a family that sits down to eat and wonders who's going to get the best cut of meat. . . . To me, we're all family — and I think that explains everything.''

Then there's the family of "Star Trek'' fans, a family numbering in the millions worldwide. One of Nimoy's warmest Trekkie memories came after completion of "Star Trek VI,'' when Nimoy teased the movie with a guest appearance on "Star Trek: The Next Generation.''

"When I went out to a `Star Trek' convention around that time, the question came up — as it so often did at that time — whether or not I would ever appear on `The Next Generation,' '' he says. When he told them the episode was in the works, "the place went totally wild, and I was hit with a wall of emotion. . . .

"It was clear to me that I had tapped into a big emotional issue here in the 'Star Trek' world: the question of whether or not one could watch `The Next Generation' without being considered disloyal to the original `Star Trek' cast, and vice versa. What I seemed to be saying to these people was, `It's OK, we're all part of the same family, and I'm going to move over and live with them for a few days.'"

New Environment: The episode was titled, appropriately, "Unification.'' But that kind of accord seems a bit strained between Nimoy and current "Star Trek'' producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller. "There's a different kind of environment there these days at the 'Star Trek' franchise,'' Nimoy says. "They are bringing together their own group of talent.''

Nimoy was asked to appear in last year's "Star Trek: Generations.'' When he complained Spock was given "a token appearance,'' the producers replied it was too late to rewrite the script, and so Nimoy turned them down. Nimoy also declined an offer to direct "Generations'' because he "was not enamored of the storyline.''

Nimoy isn't a regular watcher of the current "Star Trek'' series, "Deep Space Nine'' and "Voyager,'' but has "seen just enough of it to be mildly concerned,'' he says.

"If you're going to do a space station [like 'Deep Space Nine'], you're not really doing the best of 'Star Trek,' because you're not going anywhere. There's no reaching out, there's no `going where no one has gone.' The audiences react to that issue, as well. The audiences are concerned about the static aspect of it, that the drama has to come to the station. The move with 'Voyager' is a move to try to rectify that.'' (Nimoy is careful when criticizing the shows, because, "to be fair, if someone would have dropped in on the original series, you would have seen that we, too, did our share of turkeys.'')

A new "Star Trek'' movie script — featuring Picard, Riker & Co. — is in the works and "I have not been invited to contribute to the story,'' he says. "I don't know if I'm going to be asked to be involved in any way in the making of this film, but I frankly doubt it. . . . They have my phone number, and if there's something they come up with for an idea for Spock, I would certainly take the call.''

Not that Nimoy is idle. He is executive producer of the TV adventure series "Deadly Games,'' now on the United Paramount Network (7 p.m. Tuesdays on KJZZ, Ch. 14). He is writing a non-"Trek'' science-fiction novel. He oversees publication of "Primortals," a comic book based on a short story he wrote with the late Isaac Asimov, which will be novelized. Recently, he starred on "The Outer Limits'' on Showtime, in a remake (directed by his son, Adam) of the "I, Robot'' episode from the original '60s series — in which Nimoy appeared in a smaller role.

But Spock will always be with Nimoy, and he is proud of the Vulcan's impact on the people who watched him.

"'Star Trek' and Spock have made a contribution to this society, a positive role model. There isn't a day goes by that somebody doesn't say to me, 'My life has been improved by you and "Star Trek,'''" Nimoy says. "I've had a great ride for 30 years. . . . If you have to be identified with a character in television, it might as well be Spock.''