Like many others I was saddened to hear that Patrick Stewart had died. Star Trek: TNG was how I first came to know him in my teens, and I believe it’s not an exaggeration to say that I loved whatever characters he played or voiced.

As an adult, I grew to admire him further, especially after I learned he’d moved relatively close to me — to Park Slope in Brooklyn (at least when he was in New York). I used to work in that neighborhood, and I remember thinking that maybe I’d run into him one day. The house has since sold to an unknown buyer — probably a friend or a relative.

I didn’t know about his deep friendship with Ian McKellen until X-Men, when I suspected the two had a certain chemistry on the screen. I was excited and felt dumb at the same time when I learned that my hunch was a well-known fact to everyone other than me. I looked into it more and learned that the two played together in Waiting for Godot on Broadway, and I’ve been trying to get a copy of that production for a long time. A recording of it is available for viewing only at the New York Public Library, by appointment.

As a fan of the old TNG show (I almost finished a rewatch a couple of years ago), I am thinking of giving DS9 another try. It was a show I started watching but never got into. Maybe I’ll watch First Contact. And of course, there’s Picard, the show about the captain himself, and from what I gather it “requires” that I watch some of the Star Trek films again. I might end up going that route.

Come to think of it, it was also him who got me to “get serious” about my Earl Grey. I always liked the tea, but after I started re-watching TNG it became a permanent staple on my coffee cart at home, along with Dragon Well, my favorite green tea. By now I know it was never really Earl Grey anyway (he liked Yorkshire Gold), but the habit stuck. Maybe I’ll try some.

I miss him. I’m grateful for his influence.