SIMON GRIFFITH

Leonard

William Shatner

Sidgwick & Jackson €28.50

★★★★ ★

It’s hard to believe now but back when the first Star Trek episode was shown in September 1966, science fiction was regarded as a commercially dubious genre. Executives were particularly concerned by viewers’ potentially negative response to the alien with pointy ears: Spock.

And it wasn’t just TV bosses who were bothered. The show’s star, William Shatner, had assumed that his character, Captain Kirk, would be the centre of attention, and was flabbergasted to discover that the sackloads of fan mail pouring in were mostly directed to Leonard Nimoy.

Stories of feuds between the two men have been the stuff of showbiz gossip for the past half-century, but they don’t tell the whole story. Now Shatner has set the record straight, and it turns out to be a heartfelt and genuinely moving tribute to Nimoy, who died last year at the age of 83.

Shatner writes about his own alleged egotism and arrogance with real candour. He freely admits to having been jealous of Nimoy. The antagonism at the beginning was real, but it was to develop into a genuine friendship.

Shatner describes Nimoy as the brother he never had. As the sons of poor Jewish immigrants, they shared similar backgrounds, but Shatner’s success came easier, and he writes revealingly about Nimoy’s early struggles. Spock was in every sense a life-changing role, and Nimoy fashioned every detail of it, including the famous Vulcan salute (left).

When President Obama met Nimoy, he greeted him with that salute. If anything demonstrates how profoundly Spock has infiltrated popular culture, it is surely that. Nimoy was an impressive man, and Shatner’s warm and engaging book does him justice.