James Doohan, RIP

Okay, most of you don't know this, but I love Star Trek. Love it.

I've seen all the movies, all the series and read many a book. The chacracters from the Original Series, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov, were a part of my life growing up and still are. As they all age and start to die, a little bit of me dies as well. It's sad to know that DeForest Kelly (McCoy) is no longer with us, having died in 1999. And now we have the news of James Doohan, aka "Scotty" died yesterday after a long struggle with Alzhiemers.

It's interesting that Doohan's death has garnered so much attention. I've seen articles in the Washington Post, heard a story on NPR, and there was an obit on ABC. On the surface, he was a television actor, that's it. But he was also part of a TV show and later franchise that was groundbreaking. And Scotty was the guy that made the Enterprise work; the calm in the midst of a storm. Maybe my best episode with Scotty is not one from the Orginal Series but from the Next Generation, entitled "Relics" where Scotty is trapped in a transpoter loop for 75 years and ends up in the Next Gen era. It's a great episode.

Godspeed, Scotty.