On October 28, Patrick Stewart died in his wife’s arms. How perfect, I thought. This is how Patrick would have wanted to die: in the arms of his beloved Sunny Ozell. A rather beautiful and peaceful way to die. Besides his wife, Patrick loved theater more than anything. I could easily imagine Patrick’s final moments on planet Earth while he was performing in a play, dying on stage in the middle of a performance.
There have been precedents. The great French playwright Molière died in front of an audience in the middle of a scene from his play “The Imaginary Invalid”. He died doing what he loved: acting in a play. Everyone in the audience was laughing and clapping, thinking Molière’s intense coughing fit was comedy gold, until their laughter turned to horror. The audience was in shock, but I suspect Molière came out thinking it was one of the best performances he had ever given.
For a final performance for dear Patrick, in contrast to the beautiful and peaceful death he apparently had, I suggest that this could have occurred in “A Christmas Carol”, near the beginning of his encounter with the ghost of the Christmas present. On the other hand, dying on stage as the wronged Shylock in “The Merchant of Venice” would certainly have been unforgettable. His portrayal of Shylock was perhaps my favorite stage performance I have ever seen.
Why am I suggesting such a thing? Because that would have allowed me to see him one last time. How I wanted that!
Many of us would have loved to see him again. Even though I knew he was very ill, somewhere in my mind I hoped to see him again. So imagining two beautiful, dramatic death scenes helps me visualize him doing what he loved so much.
One thing is certain: Patrick’s reach across continents was enormous. After news of his death surfaced, the internet, unsurprisingly, was filled with thousands of tributes of admiration and overflowing love for the Yorkshire man. He touched so many people in so many ways. Not only was he the captain of the Enterprise crew, but he seems to have been everyone’s captain due to the way he walked in the world.
What a breath of fresh air to have a leader who cares about the ethics of what he says! The result was eloquence. Gravity. Intellect. The character of Jean-Luc Picard, which Patrick played brilliantly, was the polar opposite of many of our leaders today.
What struck me as I looked through the hundreds of tributes was how much we humans desire good leaders. How, if we respect someone, we will work hard for them because of their principles. We follow them, imitate them because they enlighten us. They give us hope. Their dedication to fairness and righteousness inspires us. We begin to believe that perhaps there are solutions to seemingly impossible problems. It was Jean-Luc Picard and the modus operandi of the crew that accompanied him. Of course, the vision itself was the collective vision of Gene Roddenberry and all the writers and producers of “Star Trek,” but Patrick realized that collective dream, our collective dream, by the way he played the character of Picard and by the way he carried himself in public. Patrick understood people’s need for heroes.
We want to believe in our leaders. Society suffers when we don’t. If we fear retaliation and think there is no choice but to live in blind obedience to those in power, we are losing our way. We are losing confidence in our institutions. Good leaders are those who push us to step up and demand justice and truth. They stimulate our imagination with their visions of a better future. They educate us. Without belief in the fundamental goodness of our leaders, we lose faith in ourselves and our collective future. Our standards and principles are diving.
A leader is also great when he or she understands sacrifice and responsibility. That’s why, I believe, people listen to “Star Trek” or listen to Shakespeare or music or art of any kind. We seek hope and uplift in the face of daily numbness or despair. The desire to do good in the world works best with both kindness and focus – and it works best when we are surrounded by art and inventions that uplift us. Jean-Luc Picard embodied this ideal. Patrick’s death means the loss of Picard, which for some hurts even more than the loss of Patrick Stewart. Jean-Luc gave us hope.
Gates McFadden played Dr. Beverly Crusher in the “Star Trek” franchise for decades alongside Stewart, including all but the second season of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”; the films “Star Trek Generations”, “Star Trek: First Contact”, “Star Trek: Insurrection” and “Star Trek: Nemesis”; the third season of “Star Trek: Picard”; and appearances in “Star Trek: Prodigy.”
Gn entert
