Leonard Nimoy in Indianapolis, Nov. 3^rd 2002

All photos are taken and copyright by Ina and Helen

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Helen..............................................................................................Ina....

1. Getting There and Getting in...

I was so nervous that I couldn't stand sitting home alone and thinking about what might happen at the dinner and lecture with Leonard Nimoy at the Indianapolis Hebrew congregation... That's why I arrived 15 minutes early at Helen's house, where I had to wait for her to get ready for a few minutes.

Around 1 PM we were on the interstate racing towards Indianapolis. Fortunately I have a new car which easily could make the two hour drive without breaking down. We stopped at a McDonalds to refresh ourselves and to imagine with laughter how we would meet our favorite actor. I assumed that we would be there early enough to arrive before Leonard. We were kidding around that we might not recognize him when he would get there... Oh well LOL

As we got closer to Indianapolis it started to rain. I don't like to drive in that kind of weather at all. When we got close to downtown they had our interstate closed off because of some accidents... We got rerouted and missed our exit because of that. I had no real idea how to get to the synagogue, but somehow we found a way that took us about an hour longer as I had planned. I was so glad that we had left early! We still made it to the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation 50 minutes early.

As we walked into the lobby of the building, Leonard greeted us from a sign where the lecture was advertised on.

We looked around and met some people who guided us to the check-in. I think we were the first guests there.
We checked out the dining room where we would have dinner with 60 other people who were fortunate to get tickets plus the speaker of the evening who just happened to be our favorite actor. We also peeked into the community hall where the lecture would be held later. We secured us good first row center seats by putting our coats there hoping that they still would be there when we come from the dinner and join all the other people who just came for the lecture.
And we also claimed our seats at the dinner table next to the VIP table with our purses :) Some other guests had arrived, too and decided to join us at our table and we got to know each other. One lady, Pam, seemed to be nearly as excited as Helen and I to meet Leonard...

It still was nearly 30 minutes until the dinner was supposed to start. We went out into the hallway between dining room and community hall and looked around and chatted with Pam.

I just happened to look into the community hall when I noticed a group of men entering the room from the other side. One of the man caught my eye right away and my heart started to beat twice the usual speed. That man was fairly tall, dark-haired, slender and looked really good in a long dark coat. I could pick him out of every crowed... it was Leonard. For being 71 he carries himself really well. He looks lean and fit and from a distance he would go through as much younger... I pointed him out to Helen...

Ina: Hey Helen, there he is.
Helen: Where? No, that's not him...
Ina: Oh yes, it's him. No doubt!
Helen: No, it's not him.
Ina: Yes, it is...

We went back and forth like that until he was close enough and we both knew that I was right. The funny thing that we had been joking about not recognizing him on our way here .... LOL

Leonard went up on stage and did a sound check. He said that he was very tired... That was not a good sign, but understandable... He had been on tour for two months now. I don't have an idea how he does it. I couldn't be in a different city every two days even with me being over 40 years younger than him...

.....

2. The Dinner

We decided that we should get into our seats for the dinner. Shortly after us, Leonard entered the dining room and sat down on the table next to ours.

Several people got up and talked to him, some even had cameras in their hands and took pictures of him.

Ina: Well, do you want to get up and talk to him?
Helen (looking at me like I just had suggested something totally unthinkable): Really?
Ina: Yes, why not?
Helen: (slowly accepting the idea of going up to Leonard.) OK, let's go. (getting up.)
Ina (what was I thinking when I suggested to walk over to Leonard): Maybe... better not.

But now it was Helen who really wanted to meet Mr. Nimoy and so we walked over to his table. There were only a few people in front of us and soon we stood right in front of Leonard who was all smiles.

First dialogue with Mr. Nimoy:

Leonard: Hallo!
Ina : Hallo. The last time I met you was also here in Indianapolis, nearly a year ago...
Leonard: Really? I was in Indianapolis?
Helen: Yes. Thanksgiving.
Ina: At a Star Trek convention.
Leonard: Really? Was I good?
Helen: Yes.
Ina: Really good.

He was in a joking mood and the bad thing for the person he jokes with is that he does it with such a straight face that both Helen and I went into his trap and actually believed him for a second that he didn't remember having been here just a year ago. But that was still harmless as I was to find out later...

Ina (I did not know what was coming over me but it was a "now or never" situation and so I just pulled all my courage together and ask without thinking...):
I know you hear this question 10,000 times a day... hm... can we take a picture with you?
(Yeah, it was out! I still don't know how I got the guts to ask that, I really don't know...)
Leonard: Yes, sure, of course, of course...
(What???? He didn't say no?????)

One of the organizers offered to take our picture.

Helen and I figured we would just stand next to him without that he had to pose.

Leonard (getting up): Oh, we're taking the picture now?

I was next to his right side, Helen to the left, when he suddenly put his arm around my shoulder. Helen admitted later that she passed out for a second there, and I was just in shock... I had not expected that, anything else, but not that... Well, since he made the start, I then really carefully put my arm around his waist and the three of us posed for the photos...

Leonard: Are we laughing?

I did... LOL

And we took our pics, first with Helen's camera, then mine...

I have again no memory if I even said "Thank you". I hope so.... I was simply in a state of shock and surprise about myself but much more about what just had happened. I needed a few minutes to be able to think clearly again...

Fortunately I was distracted by the start of the dinner...

It began with a traditional Jewish prayer. I have to admit that I had no idea what to expect since I've never been at a Jewish event before. I thought it was very interesting and I watched what everybody was doing and tried to do the same. The breaking of the bread was no problem but then when everybody started to sing in Hebrew I was totally lost. Helen and I looked at each other and we noticed that we seemed to be the only people in the room who were not Jewish. But nobody seemed to care about that. We got a very warm welcome from everybody, anyway.

The food was very good, salmon and rice. Once in a while I looked over to Leonard and noticed that he didn't eat anything. I wondered why... He certainly doesn't need to watch his weight. Every time the waitress wanted to bring him something he made it very clear that he didn't want to eat. Hm... hm, I don't know about that...

Helen wrote much more detailed about what Leonard talked about at the dinner. Check it out here.

But I have to tell you about my conversation with him... LOL

2nd dialogue

Ina: (raising my hand and getting picked by Leonard)
What do you think are the most influ.... (couldn't pronounce influential. Just didn't get the word out of my mouth...)
Leonard: Influ???? (grinning)
Ina (reading the question) : influ... influential artists and politics of the last 50 years and who did you get influenced by?
It was very quiet in the room and my heart dropped to the floor. Have I said something wrong?
Leonard: Artists? Why not actors, directors, sculptures...?
What was going on??? Those are all artists, aren't they? I was confused and gave him a baffled look instead of an answer.
Leonard (looking me straight in the eyes): Why do you ask me this question?
Ina (confused...): Hm, hm... (I thought about this question for three days and thought it was interesting, didn't have to do with Star Trek and gave him the chance to tell us some of the things important to him... well, I didn't say that.) You have been such a great inspiration for me. Who was one for you?
Leonard (walking towards me, staring at me and starting to worry me a little because I still had no idea what I had done wrong and if he would get annoyed with me.): The last 50 years... or history? .... Why the last 50 years? Why not history or the last 20 years?
Ina (getting close to be very desperate, yes, even annoyed with her favorite star LOL, LOL): Just answer however you want to.
(Did I really say that? I hope I was more polite. I honestly had no idea why he was giving me such a hard time.)
Leonard: Hm, the last 50 years... or history... Hm... Hm... (and he went on like that asking me again to define the time span...)

I noticed that everybody on my table was laughing... Why, what had I done? Then I realized that I just had gone into Leonard's trap... again.

Looking closer at Leonard I saw that he wasn't mad at me at all, quite the contrary. He started to smile and his mood improved clearly after I asked my questions. Before he had to answer mostly the usual bunch of Star Trek questions and probably started to get bored.

If I would not have been so nervous I would have realized right away that he was buying time to think about an answer. I wish I would have noticed earlier that he was picking on me in a friendly manner because then I could have reacted a little bit different. The whole time he was talking to me his eyes were twinkling with laughter but I was too nervous to see that.

Well, next time I am prepared not to take him too seriously and give it back to him. Yeah, right... remind me when I meet him again LOL. And thinking of it now... how could I have missed that he was joking around with me? I guess I expected him to be intellectual and serious how he often comes across... I should have known that he isn't always like that. Oh well, at least, it made his evening... (and mine... I still laugh about it, especially about my reaction...)

Leonard (a little bit more serious): Well, actually, this is a really interesting question... Hm... I'm not sure if this answers it but let me tell you a story... (And he told the story about how he met JFK.)

......

Lecture and Autograph Session

The lecture was funny and witty. I liked the photographs. They are very artistic and inspiring. Check out Mr. Nimoy's photography side at here.

He didn't just show photographs from the book but also much older photographs like one he did as a young boy of his grandfather. Yeah, his grandfather surely looks like a Nimoy, especially the ears, LOL (Well, I guess he also could have been Leonard's maternal grand father and so no Nimoy...)

He answered a lot of question at the end of the lecture... again, mostly were Star Trek related. Well, I don't want to talk to much about the lecture, just go to Helen's website.

After the lecture and slide show he signed "Shekhina" books which you could buy there.

Third dialogue, autograph session

Ina : To Ina... I-N-A
Leonard (looking friendly) : I-N-A ?
Ina: Yes.

He signed my book: For Ina, Peace! Leonard Nimoy.

Ina(giving him the card which includes drawings I did from his photographs.):
As I mentioned before, you have been such a great inspiration for me. I just happen to like to draw and well, that's why I did that for you..." (I know... I acted really "fanish"... oh well, why not...)
Leonard (checking the card out from all angles.): Oh, oh, nice, thank you.
Ina (I was probably red like a tomato...): You're welcome.
Leonard: Where are you from?

I told him that I'm from Germany but live in the USA...

I don't remember anything else I talked to him about...

....

He signed each book with a personal dedication and talked to everybody. It was so different from an autograph session at a convention. I enjoyed it a lot and it was over much too fast.

When Leonard was done and left the building and walked by I said one more "Thank you".

The drive home was uneventful. It had stopped raining and there wasn't much traffic, so I dropped Helen off before midnight...

I didn't get a whole lot of sleep, though, and barely made it through the work day on Monday...