A Son of the Rock

Almost no sooner had I read the obituary of Walter Koenig (Ensign Chekov in the original Star Trek) than came the news that Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation) had also died.

The line I most remember Koenig uttering as Chekov was in reply to a grandiose claim by one of the series’s baddies. “And I am the Tsar of all the Russias.” I always wondered how well that would have gone down in the Soviet Union.

Koenig’s appearance in Babylon 5 came as a delight – especially since his character’s name in that show, Alfred Bester, was a nod to written SF history.

Walter Marvin Koenig: 14/9/1936 –  25/10/2026. So it goes.

I first saw Patrick Stewart in I, Claudius where he played Tiberius’s enforcer Sejanus. He also played Karla in the BBC adaptations of John Le Carre’s Smiley novels.

I must admit that when he was given the part of Picard, I was somewhat surprised given that he was more well known at the time for stage work. He made it his own though.

Patrick Stewart: 13/7/1940 – 28/10/2026. So it goes.