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Like so many of you, I took the news regarding the passing of Patrick Stewart with utter shock.
As often happens, these celebrities or dignitaries we follow do get to live part of their lives behind closed doors; so I wasn't aware that the talent had fallen on ill health in the slightest. The announcement came like a punch to the gut; and it sent reverberations across all of media. Here was the man that so many knew as 'captain,' and he had spent so many years on screens big and small larger than life. Certainly, he couldn't die. Alas, mortality is truly that which binds us all together; and his passing is one of those unfortunate milestones that'll stick around for some time, I suppose.
Some time during the 1990's, the wifey and I had the opportunity to see Sir Patrick Stewart on the theatrical stage. While Star Trek: The Next Generation was on summer break, Sir Pat and a few of his small screen regulars -- Gates McFadden, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, and Colm Meaney -- put together a theatrical production of Tom Stoppard's 'Every Good Boy Deserves Favour that swung through Chicagoland whilst we lived up that way. We bought tickets -- as did a number of Trekkies, Trekkers, and general Trek enthusiasts -- and sat pretty close down front. Actually, I recall telling my wife we were in seats "close enough to be spit on" by those mightily projecting Thespians. So we got the chance to see Stewart and his mates in a different format entirely. It was understandably magical for those of us who like that sort of fare.
Of course, as the man aged, I think he, too, kept reaching back for his youth. The latter Star Trek: The Next Generation movies struggled to find wider audiences because they didn't let the characters age as had their players. I've read that some of this was owed to demands made by Stewart and others, wanting their faces to appear somewhat synonymous with 'action stars' instead of the more thoughtful and heartfelt pursuits of the franchise's earlier years. There's even been some suggestion that the Picard series faultered a bit, significantly owed to the actor's insistence on the series being structured around his fictional personae. Thankfully, those requirements were relaxed at least so much that Picard: Season Three gave us somewhat of a reunion. While I personally didn't much care for the program, I'll concede that it was great having the band back together again.
As I often say in articles like this, I praise the stars that we'll always have these episodes and movies to remember folks by; and those same sentiments will likely have me putting on a few episodes of The Next Generation in the foreseeable future. The show had so many wonderful stories, and Stewart's grace and composure was clearly a guiding hand at the helm for so many. His talent is generational, and it will be missed.
Our warmest prayers are extended to the family, friends, and fans of Sir Patrick Stewart.
May he rest in peace.
-- EZ