Sir Patrick Stewart died yesterday, October 28th, 2026.
In my grief over his loss, I found myself listening to the audiobook of this wonderful memoir, and also realizing that although I had completed it years ago, I never reviewed it here. So allow me to do that and, in doing so, attempt to honor a man I truly admired, respected, and loved.
Although I grew up in the 90s, I came to Star Trek later in life. While in my 20s, I somewhat stumbled upon Star Trek: The Next Generation and almost instantly fell in love with it. I was particularly drawn to Stewart's character: Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
Picard was different than almost any other leader I had come across - in fiction or real life. He was a scientist, a diplomat, and someone for whom empathy and compassion are deeply ingrained through years of experience.
He’s not an action hero, but he knows when to fight and when to defend. And most importantly - when not to.
He’s also deeply flawed - awkward at times around his crew, struggling to show weakness or behave in a way that might reflect poorly on the ideals he so deeply believes in. He's also notoriously (and hilariously) bad with children.
Perhaps no one outside of my own father has provided me with a better example of how to humbly but effectively lead people.
And yet, over the years, I realized that Picard paled in comparison to the real person that Sir Patrick was.
Throughout this wonderfully entertaining memoir, readers will learn about Stewart's extremely poor and difficult upbringing (including a violent father), his initial forays into acting in the local theater ("It was where I felt safe"), his eventual rise to traveling the world with Shakespeare, and finally - the universe in Star Trek.
Was he flawed? Certainly, as we all are. But he was also humble, kind, empathetic, hard-working, devoted, a fierce ally for anyone in need of one, and viciously funny - and all of that is in evidence in this book.
Simply put, Patrick was a man who made this world a better place.
Godspeed, dear man. #LLAP 🖖🏻
submitted by /u/tkinsey3[link] [comments]