Not more than three days after the tragic passing of Walter Koenig (TOS: Pavel Chekov, 1936-2026) we have lost the great Sir Patrick Stewart. This (hopefully) caps off a string of devastating losses to the Star Trek community that began on the fifteenth with the passing of Richard Riehle who portrayed Batai on the acclaimed TNG Episode "The Inner Light" (S5E25). While any words I can say seem wholly inadequate, I still felt I should make some sort of post. I only hope my meager grasp on the written word is sufficient to express my thoughts in a manor easily understood by others.
It's not an exaggeration to say that since I first began watching the voyages of the Starship Enterprise more than fifteen years ago that Star Trek has been a near constant presence in my life, shaping it and I think in some ways redefining it's course. As a young teenager growing up (mostly friendless) in the Midwest raised by my grandparents, I lacked any real role models. In Star Trek I found one: Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
Picard was the embodiment of true masculinity. Possessing exceptional wisdom and courage, unwavering commitment to his ideals and his principals, and yet showing humility, compassion and empathy in great quantities. A man free of greed. Free of bigotry. Devoid of ego. All of those essential qualities which makes a great man great.
Now obviously Jean Luc Picard is a work of fiction. All men of flesh and blood are possessed of their faults, some more than others. But Patrick Stewart's portrayal of this exceptional human being gave viewers something to aspire to, an ideal by which to guide themselves. Often in my life, I have asked myself "What would Captain Picard do?" or "What would Captain Picard think of this?". Through that lens one could more easily determine the correct path amongst the multitudes laid out before them. That's really what Star Trek is about at its core. Flawed men overcoming their limitations to be one hundred percent of what they are capable of being. To strive to better themselves and their fellow man, to further humankinds achievements. It challenges us to be more than we think we can be.
I'll be honest, I don't know if I've chosen the correct path in my life at all intersections. But I'm one hundred percent sure that I'd have taken the incorrect one more often without the lessons this fictional character taught me. Though Sir Patrick Stewart has left us for that great mysterious journey all men must someday face, he lives on through Captain Picards adventures, and through the millions of fans whom he influenced to be the most that we could be.
Farewell Captain. LLAP.
