Unlike the movies, the loss of Leonard Nimoy is final. Mr. Nimoy passed away yesterday at the age of 83. And while he led a diverse life, he will always be Star Trek's Spock in the eyes of most of us left behind. Here is a little bit about his early life from a story in The Washington Post:
Leonard Simon Nimoy was born in Boston on March 26, 1931, to parents who had been peasants in what is now Ukraine. His father became a barber and urged his sons — Leonard and an older brother, Melvin — toward stable careers.
The boys grew up in a Yiddish-speaking household and attended Orthodox Jewish services, which became an unexpected influence on Mr. Nimoy’s role as Spock. His “Vulcan salute” — made by parting the middle and ring fingers of each hand — was based on a hand gesture he noticed while attending a synagogue as an 8-year-old.
So now we know where that ever famous gesture originated.
RIP Leonard Nimoy. So many of us at NASA were inspired by Star Trek. Boldly go...go.nasa.gov/10F4Ci0
And we can expect to hear and see a lot more about Leonard
Nimoy in the weeks to come. SyFy is
planning to dedicate five hours of programming to Mr. Nimoy tomorrow.
If imagination is the origination of much exploration, then
Mr. Nimoy was a key part of the space program we see today and the dreams we
have for tomorrow.
