Photo illustration by Kelsey Sutton/The Diamondback
Leonard Nimoy was my grandfather.
Well, not really. But in January 2014, the actor tweeted to his more than 1 million Twitter followers, “Any here want to make me their honorary grandfather consider it done.”
As a girl who never really knew either of her grandfathers, his tweet was an oddly charming offer. I mean, who wouldn’t want a famous sci-fi actor as a surrogate grandpa? You couldn’t ask for a better or more iconic sci-fi figure to regard as a grandfather than Nimoy.
His portrayal of Mr. Spock in the original Star Trek TV series and its numerous film adaptations has forever engrained in our cultural consciousness the idea of the Vulcans — their cold logic, their dangerous but calm nerve pinch and the unforgettable hand sign that my middle school classmates and I slowly learned after many weeks of separating our fingers with pencils or pens. Nimoy was actually the person responsible for introducing that gesture to the Star Trek universe after witnessing it exchanged as a blessing in synagogue as a child.
However, more recognizable than the Vulcan salute were the words that often accompanied it. “Live Long and Prosper,” the customary parting words of the Vulcans, are instantly identifiable with Spock and the Star Trek franchise at large.
Besides Star Trek, Nimoy went onto to other film and television roles, including lending his voice to the movie Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the video game Civilization IV, as well as recording several albums. However, while he never quite shook off his half-Vulcan alter ego, he never stopped embracing the role that made him famous and thanking the fans that helped him get there. His appearance in 2009’s Star Trek reboot helped introduce the new franchise to old Trek fans while bringing new Trekkies into the fold. I was among these.
Despite being an actor best known for playing a stoic character, Nimoy demonstrated unrivaled empathy and kindness throughout his career. In 1968, a teenage girl wrote a letter to Spock in Fave magazine expressing the difficulty of being a mixed-race teenager, seeking advice from the half-human, half-Vulcan character. Nimoy was touched by the letter, and wrote back to the girl, encouraging her to be strong by using Spock’s behavior as a model.
For as silly as it was, Nimoy’s grandfatherly offer warmed my heart. The 83-year-old actor was quite active on his Twitter; though he wasn’t nearly as prolific on social media as Star Trek co-star George Takei, he posted frequent updates on his life and pleasant daily thoughts. The idea that he was offering kinship to strangers online just because some fans might have craved a friendly elderly mentor in their lives was touching.
In the year since that tweet, Nimoy certainly lived up to the responsibility of being an online grandfather to many. After learning he had chronic lung disease, he urged his followers to quit smoking so that they would not suffer the same health troubles later in their lives. He preached about art, shared poetry, spoke out against war, reminisced about significant dates in his life and of course, shared a few nerdy bits of Star Trek miscellany. He showed off the work of his biological grandchildren and encouraged his online ones to be kind and caring to one another.
He signed almost every tweet with “LLAP,” the abbreviation of his old catchphrase. But rather than being hokey or excessively geeky, the phrase represented everything Nimoy stood for: living a good life, a truly good life, by being caring to one another and taking care of yourself and others.
A little piece of my heart broke when I learned of his death, as did the hearts of countless other sci-fi fanatics and geeks around the world. Though he may not have been an actual grandfather to us, Nimoy’s fantastic performances and genuine words of encouragement have touched fans across generations.
Beyond the legacy Nimoy leaves behind from his performances as Spock, he will leave behind another legacy with me and his thousands of other online grandchildren.
This second legacy can be summarized in his final tweet:
“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP”
