When I drive from Pasadena, I can get to Hollywood three different ways: 1) down the 2 and through Echo Park to the 101, 2) down the 2 and through Silver Lake to Beverly, 3) out the 134, over Barham, and down the 101 to Highland.
Of course, when I take the Metro, it’s significantly easier: park at Del Mar Station, relax, and change trains once at Union Station . . . but since I was running late, I chose to drive route 3.
As I headed over the Cahuenga pass, I noticed a greater-than-usual number of busses with “SHUTTLE” or “HOLLYWOOD BOWL” or “PARKING LOT x” on them. I was so focused on getting to Jimmy’s Dinner, though, even if one of them had said, “HEY, WIL! THERE’S A CONCERT AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL, SO YOU SHOULD STAY ON THE FREEWAY UNTIL GOWER” I probably wouldn’t have noticed.
Luckily, some little voice in the back of my head said, “Excuse me, Wil? There’s a lot of traffic up there. You’d better go down to Gower to avoid it.” And I listened. If I’d gone straight, I would have been stuck in at least 45 minutes of crap, but I made it to Hollywood and Highland in under 5 minutes, without resorting to creative driving. Yes, I was very proud of myself.
I pulled into the Valet line at 7:50, and began to panic. I was supposed to arrive at 8, and I was going to have to run through the hotel as it was . . . so when the valet told me that I had to park in a far-away garage, I freaked.
“Dude! I have to speak in ten minutes, and I’m totally late, and you HAVE to park my car! PLEASE!”
“Well, I don’t know if –”
“I’m begging you, man!”
I waved a fiver at him, and he capitulated. I must admit, I felt like Mini Henry Hill for a second.
I walked into the cavernous lobby of the Hollywood Renaissance hotel, and looked for signs that would direct me to Jimmy’s Farewell Dinner. Finding none, I called a friend of mine who was already at the dinner, and asked him where it was. “On the fifth floor,” he said.
“Oh, that should be easy. I’ll just get into the elevator and . . . “
I’m not going to tell you how I got lost, because it’s incredibly embarassing, so let’s just fast forward about fifteen minutes, okay?
I walked into the ballroom, and marveled at the crowd: over 600 people filled the enormous room, and it took me several minutes to find my friend Harry. I had also misunderstood the schedule: I wasn’t on until around 9:15, so I had time to eat some dinner and visit with a few people.
Just before 9, the lights went down, and a woman got up to play an incredibly beautiful Star Trek suite on the oboe. Then Marc Lee took the stage, and started the show. The mood was not as somber as I thought it would be, and I laughed so hard my stomach hurt when Walter Koenig took over the hosting duties, and told stories about Jimmy and himself. I’ve heard for years about how funny Walter is, and I know both of his kids, who are incredily funny people . . . but I’d never actually seen Walter in action. Goddamn, man, he’s hilarious.
I got major butterflies when Walter called me up. I was only cast member from The Next Generation in attendance, and I wanted to represent my cast honorably.
My remarks went well. I had the audience on my side the entire time I spoke, and when I was done, I was so relieved that I didn’t suck . . . I walked right back to the wrong table. Of course, everyone was still watching me, so I got a bonus (and unintentional) laugh. Nice.
Nichelle spoke after me, and she was fantastic. She looked very beautiful and . . . well, imagine that Storm from XMEN (the comic, not the movie) was in her 60s. That’s how she looked. Her remarks were brilliant, and when she introduced Neil Armstrong . . . holy crap, man. The whole ballroom exploded! He gave a great speech, where he said that none of the rockets he rode were as advanced as the Enterprise, because they couldn’t even get out of the solar system. Like everyone else there, he’d been inspired by Jimmy’s work on Star Trek, and he thanked him for being Scotty.
And that was really the theme for the entire evening: all these people were there because they’d been touched by Jimmy’s work, or they’d been lucky enough to know him. I hope that when I am an old man, I am thought of half as fondly as Jimmy is.
Over the years, I’ve had a few moments when I’ve been able to “touch” how influential Star Trek is, but nothing has ever been like this night. I’m honored that I got to be a part of both.
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Wow. I read your speech for the dinner and I was so moved. Really great words and so true.
I just wanted to post a couple of links you might be interested in. Sunday was the Peace March in NYC and I took some pictures. Over 400,000 people marched past Madison Square Gardens where the Republican National convention was held in protest against the Bush Administration. I posted my pictures on my own blog.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/pandora1/225740.html
Also, a member of the Trekkies Live Journal Community wrote an entry about you and Wesley Crusher. I thought you would be interested to read what he and other members thought. 🙂
http://www.livejournal.com/community/trekkies/142002.html
Just thought you might be interested. You are an inspiration to a lot of people.
I’m curious why no other Next Generation cast members were there?
Were they all invited? Just some? Was there a reason none were there?
I would think at least LeVar Burton would be there since they worked together the most on the Next Gen episode Doohan did.
Regardless, you done good, Wheaton. You done good.
Great entry Will. I was wondering, are there any transcripts from the night? I’d love to read what Koenig had to say.
I so wish I could have attended this function. Scotty was my favorite character in any of the Star Trek series. I am an engineer, and my name is Scott, and there is no doubt in my mind that I became one in part because of being inspired by Mr Scott on Star Trek. For years I’ve had a daydream of meeting Mr Doohan, shaking his hand, and introducing myself as engineer Scott. I even have friends who know about my trekkieness and call me engineer Scotty.
My favorite Mr Scott story is very personal. I was having a lousy day at work, and things were not going my way. I was working on site, doing a review of an old water treatment plant in preparation for designing an upgrade. I found an old set of engineering drawings of the plant from the 1950s, which in Canada always have the stamp of the designing engineer on them. The drawings I found had a stamp from an engineer with the name of J. Doohan, I swear to God. My partner on site found me laughing and taking pictures of the engineer stamp on the old drawings. I remembered why I had got into this racket to begin with, which had a lot to do with Star Trek, and I had a dard good day after that.
Thanks Mr Doohan, and thanks Wil.
You know we love you Wil, but…man, you gotta start getting out of the house a few minutes earlier for these appointments! 😉
Hey, I just found your site through SFI. I don’t know why it took so long. You said if someone linked to you to drop you a line. So I did(although I botched the link, see: http://www.livejournal.com/users/silentounce/157159.html ). That was a great speech that you gave. It seems like you are the same kind of man that Mr. Doohan is, so don’t worry. I hope that makes this comment related to the post. Also, I read about your gmail for the troops idea and it’s nice to see more support for the military. I’m a Marine stationed in San Diego and I just want you to know that we appreciate everything the public does to support us. As a matter of fact I have some gmail invites myself that I’ve sent to friends in the Corps. So, right on, brother.
Semper Fi
LCpl P
I didn’t know Mr. Doohan was doing so poorly. That makes me sad, but the turnout for his farewell makes my heart glad. I’m glad you shared.
Neil Armstrong. When I ran into you, I said, “You and I share the same birthday”, hoping you’d be impressed. You said “You know who else shares our birthday? Neil Armstrong.” I knew then, that he was important to you. So, I’m curious, did you get to talk to him? If so, I hope you didn’t use the same opening line I did! 😀
hey sorry to hear that.. oh just to let u know seen u on sceen savers last night 7pm est .. on the segmnt on space stuff ..it was so cool about it people at work were talking about it .. later
Thanks for that Wil. It brightened my day.
will,
i seriously think you should get some sponsership from http://www.kleenex.com/home.htm on your website. either i get teary eyed from sentimental posts like this or cry from laughter from some of your posts….. i’m glad you had the opportunity to go and be a apart of this gathering… and you were the only one to represent TNG? AWESOME!!!!
ANY WORD ON HOW PATRICK IS DOING???
good job
cheers
crystal
Well, living in Toronto I don’t think I will get the opportunity to meet Jimmy Doohan, but reading Wil’s post makes me feel a bit closer to him. I was at SFX in Toronto over the weekend. George Takei, Michael Dorn and LeVar Burton were amongst the guests, as well as Aron Isenberg and Cirroc Lofton, to name a few. Anyway, LeVar and Michael were last minute replacements for Patrick Stewart (as someone already mentioned had heart surgery).
If you ever get the chance to see George Takei I highly recommend it. What a gentleman. What a voice. He was flying out on the red eye from Toronto on Saturday night to attend the Jimmy Doohan event on Sunday. When I heard him speak he was entertaining us with stories of Jimmy.
It sounds like it was a beautiful evening… and I know you represented your part to the full extent.
Amazing writing… You did more then bring a smile to my face, you made me feel as if I were sitting in the room watching and participating. Truely an inspiration.
WOW, wil, how can some one send you a message or email, I need to send you some info.
I posted 2 PM’s on Paracosm and it is just setting in the outbox.
…
Darn. It’s kinda a bummer that he’s retiring. I had big plans for his character. I suppose I could still use the character, but since the story is going to be a movie and a HUGE BLOCKBUSTER HIT!! *blink blink* I don’t suppose it would be possible.
I’m not a huge fan of the original series. … Yeah …. I can’t stand it actually. It’s a bit too corny for me, but I DID absolutely love Scotty. And I loved what they did with his character in the Next Generation. He’ll definitely be missed.
That was a really great story Wil. Your comments about Mr. Doohan were very kind. I grew up watching all incarnations of Star Trek and absolutely loved the character of Mr. Scott. One of my favorite moments with him was actually in Star Trek IV,(with the whales) when he sat down to use the computer in 20th Centurey San Francisco and he kept saying “computer…computer..” over and over and nothing happened. Then Captain Kirk explained they weren’t as advanced as in their time, to which Scotty quipped “how quaint” and proceeded to type at warp speed. A classic moment as fan for me. I was sad to hear Mr. Doohan now has Alzheimers. He has a wonderful life, and he is very beloved. Today I believe was the day he was getting his Star on the Walk of Fame, which is long overdue. Thanks again Wil for sharing as always!
How awesome it must have been to be there! Mr. Doohan will be sorely missed. God Bless him. Good Job with your speech Will!
Wil, your comments were great.
I guess I too am one of those engineers inspired in part by Scotty.
Strangely enough, there was an article recently about what could arguably be called “transparent aluminum” even though it’s really just alumina glass. Just one more bit of Star Trek and Scotty inspired creativity in the real world.
Wil, (this is from your Mom). You know I rarely comment.I loved your tribute to Jimmy and want to share one of the many memories I hold dear. I got to know Jimmy during the STTNG years, most specifically on the all those cruises. Jimmy is such a dear and generous man (I can’t talk about him past tense). I remember… we were on a cruise to Mexico. We had stopped in Encanada (probably the armpit of that coast) Anyhow, Jimmy joined us; me and your dad, for a day of touring. We were inundated by biggars as we navigated the streets. It was so sad, very young women supporting nursing babies, so hopefully holding out a free hand. 6 year olds selling gum. Everyone was selling something. Jimmy walked (boldly) ahead of us. But he kept stopping, listening to every pitch. Wheeling and dealing.I didn’t understand. Just walk on, I thought. We can’t help everyone. Apparently Jimmy could. At one point I walked up behind him, trying to move him along. (afterall,we were meeting the STTNG and ST casts for lunch) Then I saw it,he had this huge wad of cash, he was just peeling off the dollars and stuffing his pockets with their wares. When we finally we got into a cab, Jimmy was weighted down with colorful belts, silver (colored) bracelets, and lots of gum. Looking back I know it wasn’t about the trinkets, or the deals he’d made. He didn’t care about any of it. He gave them his money, he have fun letting them negotiate, but, more impotantly, he gave them his time.He wanted these people to feel valuable.He was concerned with their spirit.I learned alot that day, I will never forget it.
Plus, we had a fabulous lunch. We shared a lobster. He gave me a silver bracelet and some green gum. (your dad’s ok with that)
Wil,
I’m so glad that you share these things with us. When I saw about a week ago that there was a farewell Con for Jimmy, I was depressed, mainly because like an idiot I didn’t read further so I assume dit was the BIG farewell.
Good thing you share your comments and I was able to figure out the truth.
Anyway, I feel that those of you who spoke ever so briefly at Jimmy’s farewell got to hold the flag for all of us. You had the rare privelledge of being able to show your appreciation and love to someone who, by all accounts deserved it.
I never knew Jimmy, only his character from Star Trek, and the person who was talked about on websites as a kind and gentle, generous man. Still, I am sad to see him go in a way I can not explain.
As for yourself, I think you probablly are loved more than you know. We don’t hang gere because we hate you man.
Last bit before I go. Your Mom? She’s very cool to share what little she does here. I think you are richer than you realise Wil Wheaton.
Shawn
Wil,
As a long-time reader and first-time poster I’d like to say thanks for it all. ST, this site, and Dancing Barefoot.
Your writing is superb, your words about James Doohan are spot on, and it’s incredibly cool that your mother reads and posts here.
Peace, live long, prosper.
Hey Wil,
Great of you to be so supportive to your friend. I thought you’d be at the Republican Convention giving them a piece of your mind! LOL!
awwwww
I didn’t know he was sick – I don’t watch TV anymore except for movies that we rent or the Disney that we own. With my boys having austim there was no reason to pay for cable & the money goes to horse back riding therapy.
He always seemed like that kinda of guy form the things I did see. there are some people in this world that just make this place worth living & I hope everyone will try to be like that.
There is so many awful illnesses out there that I wish we can cure – I’m glad to hear that they think they can. It is awful knowing you have something that can’t be cure. that one is really bad but at least he got to share his life with alot of people & made them feel better.
Ok I’m off – I have to get back my sewing – I’m making some dresses for a 7 year old girl in a wheelchair that can only only point to two choices – when you see what is out there you really get glad about what your own kids can do – mine can dress themselves & run – this girl can’t — so anyone who is heathly please be thankful for what you have while you still have it
Reddy
oh – sent 6 invites for gmail for you
Your comments about Mr. Doohan were very touching and heartfelt; ditto for your mom’s just above.
Still, though; all I could think of was Neil Fucking Armstrong! Dude, he NEVER does public appearances. What an incredible tribute.
Woah, Neil Armstrong. This is the shit — he never never never shows up for public apearances.
I’m quite sure someone might have mention it in your comments here but it disapoints me after seeing the movie clip on startrek.com of James Doohan star on the walk of fame, that the other two cast members were not present at his last appearance. If I can recall I don’t think you ever mention Shatner or Nimoy were present at his farewell dinner. I guess that just goes to show how both are self centered assholes (excuse the language) or too good to be seen in public with their fellow and former co-star. Very sad…
Thank you for writing this. Everyone’s said everything else I might say. But I hope one more thank you doesn’t hurt.
I was there Wil, what a weekend! I had heard that LeVar and Dorny would be there too, but I guess not. Thank goodness you showed up. You did a great job and were a fine representative of TNG…
How special was that appearance by Neil Armstrong… he never appears anywhere and he stayed the whole weekend. I heard from one of the volunteers that he was in the green room with Leonard and Bill the next day. They were all watching the marathon in Athens and asking each other questions, each a fan of the other, like awe struck kids… bet that was a sight! (sigh)
Anyway, thanks again for being a special part of a special tribute to a wonderful man.
Hey Wil,
thanks for your write up. I hope someday you will bring the wife and kids down here (Johnson Space Center) to see just how much of an influence Trek has had in our nation’s space history. Don’t tell the folks here “it was just a TV show” it truly was something that set our imaginations on fire keeps us dreaming of what will be. . .
>I pulled into the Valet line at 7:50, and began to panic.
Weren’t you late for a book signing last week, too?
>”Dude! I have to speak in ten minutes, and
>I’m totally late, and you HAVE to park my car!”
At least consider the possibility that you’re STILL “A Really Big Asshole
Nice story Wil. Thanks!
I only met Mr. Doohan one time, at a signing back in 1984 in Florida. I was a poor student and couldnt’ afford to buy the Star Trek VHS tapes they were selling, but stood in line anyway, hoping he’d sign my advertising flyer from the event.
He did and I asked him a couple of dorky questions, which he answered very nicely.
He’s a very nice guy.
Hi Wil,
Have just re-read your post again for around the fifth time since the day you posted it, and it’s still just as moving. Your mum’s post in the comments above was fantastic, too, what a lovely memory to share of the wonderful Jimmy.
Thought I’d share a pic I found of you on StarTrek.com whilst at the dinner (you look great, by the way!).
Pic
Cheers,
Lis in Aus 🙂
Regarding A Very Nonymous Coward’s post…
Er, I personally think that seeing your faults is a very good indication that you have changed, even though Wil Wheaton has never been what I would call “A Really Big Asshole