Goodbye, Leona.

I know some of my readers knew her and are not on elaryn's LJ list, so:

Leona Louise Talley, friend and one-time Starbase Cosgrove member, left the mortal world on Saturday, February 11th, 2006.

From elaryn's tribute (this is only a small excerpt):

How to describe Leona? Physically, she was small - no taller than five feet. We used to jokingly trade "insults" about our respective heights: she would call me "thyroid case," and I would call her "midget." Throughout her teens and twenties, she tended to be plump. Her skin was the colour of milk chocolate, with very dark brown hair that curled tightly in its natural state. She usually wore her hair very short. She had an elegant sense of fashion and, when able, would dress like a 1940's film star, usually favouring high heels to offset her lack of height.

Leona disliked most of the terms used to describe "people of colour." Even that particular phraseology, "people of colour," would have made her laugh. "Don't we all have a colour?" She would say that she was not actually "black", since her skin was brown, nor was she "African", as her most recent ancestors were quite American, thank you. She felt that many of the more common ethnic labels were rather silly and cited her own ancestry as being, in part, a mixture French, Creole, Irish and Indian, to name a few and refused to allow herself to be pigeon-holed into any one of them or defined by the colour of her skin.

Leona, like me, favoured the Romulans ("Rihannsu!", we'd shout together) when it came to Star Trek, and I remember sitting with her and discussing the shoddy treatment our favorite Trek aliens received from the fans and the show alike.

Like Elaryn, I hadn't seen Leona in years. I think, in fact, I last saw her more than a decade ago. She was, however, in my thoughts often, for I always did like her, and I often wished I knew how to get back in touch with that marvelous lady.

Thei'khaiell ssuin hw'aenevha, Leona.

RIP, G'kar

Andreas Katsulas, the actor who brought G'kar of the Narn Regime to life in five seasons of Babylon 5 as well as Commander Tomalak in Star Trek's Next Generation era, has died.

J. Michael Straczynski wrote it, but he'd be the first to admit that Andreas's* quiet voice gave it power and majesty:

"The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice. The language is not Narn, or Human, or Centuari, or Gaim, or Minbari... It speaks in the language of hope. It speaks in the language of trust. It speaks in the language of strength and the language of compassion. It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul. But always, it is the same voice. It is the voice of our ansentors speaking through us and the voice of our inheritors waiting to be born. It is the small still voice that says 'We are One'. No matter the blood, no matter the skin, no matter the world, no matter the star, we are One. No matter the pain, no matter the darkness, no matter the loss, no matter the fear, we are One. Here gathered together in common cause, we agree to recognize this single truth and this single rule. That we must be kind to one another. Because each voice en-riches us and en-nobles us, and each voice loss diminishes us. We are the voice of the Universe. The soul of creation. The fire that will light the way to a better future. We are One. We are One."

Rest Well, Andreas. Thank you for all your work. You brought joy to me and mine.

*Yes, that is correct.