George Takei :verified: 🏳️‍🌈🖖🏽

My favorite Patrick Stewart story arose out of a chance encounter. We happened both to be seated on the same flight in the same cabin near one another. I looked over and saw a familiar bald pate and furrowed brow.

“Aren't you…?” I asked him.

He looked over and his face lit up with delight. Then he spoke to me in that unmistakable proper manner of his.

“Well aren't YOU!” he responded, his eyes twinkling.

We had a good laugh. Rest in power—warp power—Sir Patrick Stewart.

Fans across the world mourn the passing of a true and irreplaceable legend. As Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Patrick Stewart took the starship Enterprise to places it had never gone before, and he inspired a whole next generation of star-gazers who looked longingly ahead to a brighter future for all humanity. Our hearts are heavy, indeed. Rest in the heavens, Captain.

My heart is heavy. Walter Koenig, our Ensign Pavel Chekov, passed away early today.

Walter and I met on the bridge of the Enterprise in the 1960s, and we stayed friends for nearly six decades. When Brad and I married in 2008, Walter stood beside us as our best man. Just last month, on Sept. 14, he turned 90, on the same day Brad and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary. I will always treasure that he and I shared that date.

Walter was more than Chekov. He was a writer, a teacher, a thoughtful man, and a loyal friend. To the fans who loved him for so many years, thank you. He loved you too.

Rest well, my dear friend. Keep navigating a steady course.

– George