It was a brief visit: a conversation with his husband Brad for AARP, greeting fans at Pike Place Market, and fielding media.
It was a big deal, however, because George Takei is a big deal.
He visited our city (which he apparently loves), and was able to meet with our reporter for approximately five minutes.
Despite the brief interview, our fantastic reporter Jason said Takei was “great,” even though there was a limited amount of time to actually interview him. You can read our story about it on the front page.
Short amount of time, short everything, but we decided Takei deserves front cover, including this short, short editorial for this issue on the elderly.
Why so much attention?
He is George Takei.
He is also a senior: 77 years old/young. Yep. Many would probably forget that, or not even realize that. (Asian genes.)
And then back to the fact he is recognized and celebrated as George Takei. There is something pretty amazing about how someone can be recognized more now (and is infamous) for being himself. He is George Takei, rather than being “Commander Sulu” of Star Trek. His commentary and advocacy for civil rights is inspiring and enlightening. He is not only an actor; he is a true voice.
It’s a great statement about how it’s never too late to achieve even more, and we can be even more successful in every stage of our life. We all have plenty to look forward to and accomplish, no matter what age we are.
We tried to attempt to express that in less than 300 words and five minutes (but who needs to keep track of numbers?). (end)