I was priviledged to have met him at DragonCon many years ago. Very nice man, and he was great at the panels, too.
The passing of Sir Patrick Stewart is a gut punch. TNG was the series that made me a Trekkie. I had seen a few scenes of TOS before, but watching "Encounter at Farpoint" the night it premiered was something I'll never forget. It made 8 year old me fully a fan, not only of STAR TREK in particular, but of science fiction in general.
Patrick Stewart was a big part of why I loved TNG. While Data was my biggest reason, Captain Picard was such a great presence on screen. For those 7 years, I never missed a new episode, and made it a point to record all of them on my vcr to rewatch any time I wanted. (This came in real handy for those summers between seasons waiting for the new season.) His presence, his words of wisdom, his humanity, his scenes with Data every time they would talk about the various aspects of humanity and life. Until Sisko came along, Picard was my captain.
Sir Patrick Stewart had such an excellent way of keeping you hanging on his every word, his every speech. He had such a gravitas in every scene he performed, he always had a grace and dignity that would be a shining example of what we, as humans, could and should be.
From his spirit of exploration in "Encounter at Farpoint", to his defense of an individual's personhood in "The Measure Of A Man", to his preserving an officer's right to choose in "The Enemy", to his words of warning in "The Drumhead", to his ability to help build a bridge of understanding between peoples in "Darmok", to his defiant spirit in "Chain Of Command, Part II", to opening his mind to all the limitless possibilites of existence in "All Good Things..."... he gave us an incredible icon to follow and example of humanity's potential.
While my first instinct is to mourn his passing, it's worth remembering several things: he lived a long, full life and he made such a HUGE impact on the world with his acting as Captain Picard and so many other roles on stage, tv, and film, and is probably the one character in the franchise you'd call the paragon of virtue and morality. And more importantly, he kept doing what he loved most for his entire life pretty much right until the end: acting. We should all be so lucky to be able to live so long and die doing what we loved until the end. So I will be celebrating his life and what he gave all of us, rather than mourn him. Because what he gave all of us is something that will last forever.
For almost 40 years, Captain Jean-Luc Picard has graced my tv screen many, many times, and he will continue to do so until I also leave this mortal coil.
Rest In Peace, Captain. You will be missed greatly, but you will always be in our hearts, minds, and memories.
Darmok... at rest.
