Friday, March 4, 2016

After a year: Nimoy fan/patron Bonnie Moss reflects



It's amazing how the one-year anniversary of Leonard 
Nimoy's passing stirred up again so many feelings for fans around the world and especially online. We remember how news of his passing melted down the Internet for a weekend, and was a wake-up call that his appeal had gone mainstream because Trek and its ideals had gone mainstream.

So it was an echo, a major echo, that we felt as Feb. 27 passed this year. So many felt compelled to share their feelings online, to marvel at how it had been a year already and still they felt the loss. By a quirk of timing, we even got his visage as the final frame of the 2016 Oscars "In Memorial" reel.


I helped my friend, The Con of Wrath survivor/donor and lifelong Leonard fan/patron Bonnie Moss, to share her memories of Leonard on several podcasts and interviews at the time (at right, with LN)—especially after the North Carolina gallery show of his work she helped curate, that went on just after his death. 

And then last weekend, as the timing led us to revisit those feelings for many of us, Bonnie shared an email with her friends about that one-year anniversary... and she gave me permission to share it with Trekland:


This Year Was Different:
(Bonnie Moss)

It's hard to comprehend it has been 12 months since losing one of the most beloved actors and individuals of our generation, Leonard Nimoy.  A year without his tweets making insightful and timely comments on today's world events. A year without hearing more commentary on his prior work, his profession in general or his current passions. A year without that still melodic voice, handsome visage and genuine affection for fans, expressed in new and future manifestations. We miss you. Daily.

I also give thanks that we were able to share part of those 83 years with you. Leonard Nimoy was a man of true diversity in his gifts and talents, who also admired and represented the broader diversity on this planet and beyond. He continued to challenge himself, he learned from his mistakes and he stayed true to his core values.

He loved his wife and family-even the challenges of blending two entities into one appear to have been met and he would be SO moved and proud by the ongoing respect and affection still in evidence among his loved ones. Thank-you, Susan Nimoy, for your efforts in this and for your impact on Leonard's health. You gave us more years with him than we might not have had otherwise.

Leonard would have loved celebrating Star Trek's 50th this year. He was looking forward to it. He certainly would have found a way to be part of it, by skype, social media or through another creative conduit, given his health limitations. Instead, we will honor and treasure his memory. The two upcoming documentaries currently in production through his two children, Julie and Adam, will be an important part of this acknowledgement.

On a personal note- thanks, Leonard, for 35 years of great performances and personal kindnesses. From our first meeting: "Why are you in the rain? Come on (backstage)--you'll get wet!"  To our last: "So good to see you again."
Thank-you for taking care of us. It was good to see you too…
                                     

                            Both photos courtesy Bonnie White: Below, at a 1979
                            performance of Vincent.

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