I heard Leonard Nimoy speak Saturday night. It was better than I expected, since I've never seen a Star Trek episode or movie. A few tidbits:
He drove a cab for awhile in L.A. when getting started in acting. One of his fares in 1956 was a young John F. Kennedy. Kennedy gave him Nimoy some advice that he still remembers today. The fare was $1.10 and JFK left a $1.90 tip for a whopping $3.
The Vulcan salute came from a hand positioning that Jewish Rabbis use on the High Holidays. The congregation is not supposed to look at the Rabbis when they use this hand positioning, however an 8 year old Lenny peeked and practiced the salute as a child. When it came time to create a Vulcan greeting, he suggested this Jewish holy hand position.
Nimoy was walking with Tom Hanks after an event. A fan came up to Hanks and asked for a picture. Then the fan saw Nimoy and said "Mr. Nimoy, you're a great photographer, will you take a picture of me with Tom Hanks." Nimoy was flattered because for the past several years, he has been focusing on his photography. He spoke about his book of photographs, "Shekhina," and showed slides from the book.
Check out Nimoy's website at leonardnimoyphotography.com for photos from the book. Shekhina is the feminine aspect of God. The book pictures nude women wearing Jewish holy garments. It is controversial, to say the least. One man told him that Nimoy's vision of Shekhina (female God, so to speak) was different than his own. His vision of Shekhina looks like his Bubbe ("grandma" in Yiddish).
If you go to the website, look for the "Full Body Project" photos. After a 300 pound woman saw his Shekhina book, she asked him to take nude pictures of her. Then several of her friends, all "full-sized" burlesque dancers from San Francisco asked to be photographed, too. Amazing photos. Anyone can take pictures of beautiful attractive nude women, but not everyone can create beautiful photos of over-size women.
Another interesting story is when he went to Russia. He went to the small town his parents were from. He found a family named Nimoy and visited them. They showed him an envelope and asked him to explain it. Inside was a letter from his mother, written 25 years before, with 2 photographs of young children: one of Nimoy's nephews and one of his children, who were in their 30's at the time of his visit. The Russian family had saved the envelope with the letter and photos all this time. What a reunion!
