Boston man wants to beam down a memorial to West End native Leonard ‘Mr. Spock’ Nimoy
A Boston man has begun a campaign to memorialize Leonard Nimoy — Star Trek’s legendary Mr. Spock — with a sculpture of the Vulcan salutation he made world famous.
It would be a fitting tribute, his co-star and longtime friend William Shatner said, to one of the West End’s most beloved native sons.
“The more attention that can be paid to that wonderful man, the better,” said Shatner, Star Trek’s Capt. James T. Kirk. “He was like a brother to me. He’s a wonderful citizen of America, but in particular of Boston.”
Tom Stocker, 77, said he saw a few episodes of the science-fiction television series when it aired in the 1960s, as well as the Star Trek movies that followed. But it wasn’t until he saw Nimoy’s son’s films, “Leonard Nimoy’s Boston” and “For the Love of Spock,” that he wanted to commission a sculpture.
He choose Spock’s iconic salutation — a raised hand with the thumb extended and the middle and ring fingers parted — as a tribute to the actor, who died of complications related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 2015 at the age of 83.
The gesture was a variation on a rabbinical blessing Nimoy saw during a service at an orthodox synagogue when he was growing up in the West End, his daughter, Julie Nimoy, said.
Stocker got in touch with David Phillips after he noticed his sculpture “Scrolls” by the New England Conservatory in May, and Phillips agreed to make the tribute to Nimoy if Stocker could find a site and enough money could be raised. He declined to give an exact price, saying it would depend on the size, materials and construction of the sculpture, but he said the cost would likely be “in the six figures.”
Stocker was able to raise $4,500 through a fundraiser on Facebook but said it probably will take a corporation or philanthropists to come up with the rest.
The proposed location is on the property of West End Place, a mixed-income cooperative whose board of trustees is considering it, Stocker said. Boston’s small West End borders both Beacon Hill and the North End.
City Councilor Kenzie Bok, who represents the West End, said the building’s residents will need to have a “robust conversation about whether that’s the right site for it.”
Julie Nimoy said her father caught the “acting bug” when he was 8 years old after appearing in his first play, “Hansel and Gretel.” At 18, he left Boston for Hollywood, where he landed roles in several TV shows and films before he was offered the role on “Star Trek.”
“He enjoyed playing Mr. Spock,” she said, “and felt a huge responsibility for making the character as interesting, unique and watchable as possible.”
On the set, he remained in character, Shatner said, but off the set, he was far from the unemotional, strictly “logical” Vulcan he played.
“He was a wonderful mixture of humor and intelligence,” Shatner said. “He was serious and yet he could be very funny, and I admired both sides.”
If the sculpture is made, Julie Nimoy said, she hopes it will both be a symbol of the peace and tolerance her father embodied, and raise awareness about COPD, the disease that ultimately killed him because he smoked for nearly 40 years until he finally quit at the age of 55.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2U3Rh2o
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