Tribute To An "Old Space Dog"

From the Associated Press:

James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original Star Trek TV series and movies who responded to the command "Beam me up, Scotty," died Wednesday. He was 85.The Associated Press reports that Doohan died at 5:30 a.m. at his Redmond, Wash., home with his wife of 28 years, Wende, at his side. The cause of death was pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease.Doohan had said farewell to public life in August 2004, a few months after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.The Canadian-born Doohan was enjoying a busy career as a character actor when he auditioned for the role of Capt. Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in NBC's Star Trek in 1966. The series lasted only three seasons, but Doohan continued to star in the feature films throughout the years.

This is how we will remember him, the ever-cheerful, loveable Chief Engineer of the Starship Enterprise. Without him, she'd never leave drydock. Probably my favorite character from the Original Series, who will most certainly be missed. A few years ago, we had the honor of meeting him at a book signing. A very cordial, friendly gentleman. One small fact that most probably know about was that he was missing his right middle finger, which he lost in the Battle of Normandy (the real battle). I recall a very well done episode of Next Generation, Relics, where he was released from a transporter beam that was looped back on itself 80 years in the future. There was a good lesson in this that he portrayed in a way only Jimmy could and that is that you can never go home again. The past is gone, learn from it and we have today and the future will take care of itself.
(note: The Associated Press misprinted his actual rank, he auditioned for the role of Lt. Commander Montogomery "Scotty" Scott)

Thanks, Jimmy! You will be missed!