Orel Family

Live Long and Prosper. What does that even mean? Living long is not living forever, and prosperity -- however it is defined -- is reserved for the living. As a benediction, it seems entirely illogical. Yet there it is, the single most recognizable line from the most iconic character in television history. I have considered that line a bit since Leonard Nimoy passed away before the weekend. I also considered, as I often do, my own attachment to that show and that character. As a child, I was small, shy, emotional, and a math nerd. Sometimes I was on the wrong end of a playground bully, and sometimes I watched my tears fall. I felt myself to be an "other." At age 9, I made a vow to myself to show no emotion -- at least not in school -- no matter what. I would contemplate everything, and stay calm no matter what. For two years, maybe more, my school life included not so much as a single smile. During this period, I discovered Star Trek .  It was in syndication by ...

When Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released one fine late fall day in 1979, I went with 16 of my closest friends in Millburn High School to a screening at Essex Green. We had to be there when Admiral James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise reunited on the bridge. And if the loving shots of the ship took too long, and if the movie itself was little more than a regurgitated TV episode (most obviously relying on a 2nd-season episode called The Changeling ), so be it. Many of had seen all 79 episodes of the original TV show, many, many times. After all, Star Trek aired in re-runs every night on Channel 11, right at dinner time. Three decades later, Star Trek has long since passed from being “must see.” The movies got better, for a while, including with the brilliant Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . Then came the TV shows. Star Trek: The Next Generation was the first and best; besides making a catch-phrase of “sexy bald man,” it became compelling in its own righ...