Goodbye Spock

Ah Spock. You were the rock on which my childhood love of science fiction was built. Though I missed the original airing of "Star Trek" for its first three seasons, I caught plenty of it in re-runs. Kirk was the swashbuckling hero who sought to place himself in danger's path, you were the logical counter. Those of us who paid attention knew that you could pummel Kirk without breaking a sweat, should you see fit. That was the quiet danger of Spock--if he could rationalize a beating, he would inflict it.

Then you transformed into other entities; Leonard Nimoy the actor struggling for roles while a Vulcan shadowed you at every turn, the narrator of the pseudo-science TV series "In Search Of...," and the feel-good psychologist who tries to convert Donald Sutherland in the classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Your zenith arriving in a parody of yourself in one of the greatest episodes ever of "The Simpsons."

We'll miss you, Leonard. Thank you for everything.