Beam me up Scotty
James Doohan, who played the Stark Trek Scottish chief of engineering on the 60’s show and subsequent movies, had a “farewell convention” this last weekend. When I learned about it this morning I was surprised, as I hadn’t known that Doohan had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease a while back. This convention was to honor his career and his life amongst family, colleagues, and friends, and I can imagine being a very bittersweet occasion. It’s of course tragic to see anyone deal with a veritable death sentence, and one that robs one in the process of faculty. Knowing that this is inevitable must be extremely painful both for the victim and those around him. Yet this “farewell” is a way to acknowledge the inevitable and leave at least those other than Doohan himself with the lasting memory that towards the end of his life he was showered with love. I can’t imagine what Doohan must be thinking at such an event. I don’t know how much the disease had progressed at this point, but if it is still relatively early, which I assume, it must be something akin to attending your own funeral. Whether this is a good thing or not, I don’t know. Often when we are faced with the inevitable, it does bring a certain amount of peace, whereas uncertainty usually only causes anxiety. In any case, the icon that Doohan created in Scotty (with the help of Gene Roddenberry) is sure to live on in the minds and hearts of all of the Trekkies or Trekkers out there both young and old. Wil Wheaton has included a speech he gave about Doohan at the convention on his blog, which, as usual, says quite a bit.