I've spent hours out there in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers, drenching and feeding every one of our Fuchsias (all 48 of them - we lost two this year), and trimming off all the burned and crispy leaves that have been annoying me since they were blasted by the heatwave a couple of weeks ago. I'm knackered now, but hopefully they'll repay us with a good show through to the autumn.
It's a real mix of emotions this evening, however - the UK is celebrating the fact that England's "Lionesses" have just won the European Football Championships 2022 (against the "old enemy" Germany, no less)! However, I have just seen the news that the very lovely Nichelle Nichols, better known as Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek, has been "beamed up by Scotty" to Fabulon.
From my tribute to her on the occasion of her birthday back in 2008:
...here are a few things that we should know about this remarkable lady:
Here are some examples of her talents (including her [truly incredible] vocal version of the Theme from Star Trek)...
- Not only was hers the first non-"servant" part for a black woman on mainstream American TV, but she shared the very first ever inter-racial kiss on TV when she and Captain Kirk had a little intimate moment.
- Her great-grandfather, James Gillespie, was Welsh.
- Nichelle always was a campaigner for civil rights - both those of black people and on behalf of gay and lesbian equality.
- She was a "glamour model" before Star Trek brought fame and fortune, but was also an accomplished singer, performing with Duke Ellington and Dizzie Gillespie.
...and here, Miss Nichols speaks out on gay rights:
RIP, Nichelle Nicholls (born Grace Dell Nichols, 28th December 1932)
Footnote:
Following the very first series of Star Trek in 1962, Miss Nicholls had planned to leave the series, having been offered a role on Broadway. Then, at a fundraising dinner, she was told that "a fan" wanted to meet her:
I looked across the room and whoever the fan was had to wait because there was Dr. Martin Luther King walking towards me with this big grin on his face. He reached out to me and said, 'Yes, Ms. Nichols, I am your greatest fan.' He said that Star Trek was the only show that he, and his wife Coretta, would allow their three little children to stay up and watch. [Having told him of her decision to leave the show] he said, "you cannot, you cannot...for the first time on television, we will be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality, beautiful, people who can sing dance, and can go to space, who are professors, lawyers." Dr. King Jr went further stating "If you leave, that door can be closed because your role is not a black role, and is not a female role, he can fill it with anybody, even an alien."
