Goodnight Jimmy I Hardly Knew Ya

Another Canadian entertainer has met the end of the tracks. The nerd world (yes I'm proudly a resident of said world) is mourning the loss of James Doohan yesterday. Born in Vancouver, James was best know to the world as Montgomery Scott or "Scotty". Chief engineer and all around nice guy on the Starship Enterprise.

While he was known for his role on Star Trek as the man who could be counted on to get them out of a tight spot, he also was a hero in the real world as well. James led men into the D-Day battle as Captain of his troops. Shooting two snipers along the way, Doohan led his unit to higher ground through a field of tank mines and took defensive positions for the night. Crossing between command posts he took six hits from a German machine gun: four in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his middle right finger. The chest bullet was stopped by his silver cigarette case. The wounds healed and his middle finger was amputated. This was later known to be a great inconvenience when driving around in modern day traffic! For the remainder of the war, he became a pilot observer, and received the dubious distinction of being called the "craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Forces."

After he got home from the war he started mucking about on the radio and as a result he ended up with a 2 year scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse where he trained with Leslie Nielsen, Tony Randall and Jackie Gleason. His skills with dialects and his good humor and fantastic work ethic earned him many a role and a place in the hearts of fans everywhere. He eventually landed the role people remember him for and enjoyed his success, but such fame carries a price. In 1973, he complained to his dentist that he was worried about the typecasting of himself as Scotty. His dentist advised him:

"Jimmy, you're going to be Scotty long after you're dead. If I were you, I'd go with the flow."

Jimmy was quoted later as saying

"I took his advice and since then everything's been just lovely."

He was a fan favourite at conventions and was always ready with his own bag of pens and paper to make sure the fans could get their autographs. Fans often said that he either loved them being there because he was always extremely patient with them. Quick to offer and autograph or photo opportunity.

Now that his time has come he will be able to roam the stars for eternity as his last wish is to have his ashes shot into space. Maybe his ashes will bump into Gene's and they can hang out together, who knows.

The world has lost a great man even if he hadn't found his way to fame and fortune. Goodnight Jimmy, maybe you can be crowned the craziest ashes in space.