AARP might seem a tad older-skewing for many around these parts, but the funny sidebar to that is that my wife started receiving AARP mailers on a frequent basis while we were still in our early 20s. Well, I thought it was funny. Still AARP (once the “American Association for Retired Persons” – another sidenote being I don’t think I’ll ever “retire,” but work until the end) is a familiar name for our Nation’s seniors, regularly publishing AARP The Magazine, who today sent me five quotes from Captain James T. Kirk himself, William Shatner. With the STAR TREK franchise celebrating its 50th Anniversary, the original Kirk offered up some takeaways for the August/September issue of the mag, and AARP gave me the signal to fire-up the Warp Drive and share them with all of you…
On Star Trek being a hit show
“I mean, Star Trek teetered on the brink for three years. Even while we were on the air, I was probably keeping my eyes open for other jobs.”
On the power of ‘Enterprise’
“I was making a documentary, and I needed an airplane. So I cold-called an executive at the Canadian airplane manufacturer Bombardier and asked to borrow one. He said, ‘Sure! I became an aeronautical engineer because of you. This is my payback.’”
On Starfleet rivals
“I’m jealous of all the captains who followed me. Some are even young and good looking. I was young and good looking; the important word is ‘was.’”
On his daughters not being able to choose between Star Trek or Lost in Space
“My daughters didn’t have the luxury of choosing between those two shows. Star Trek was the family business. I’m looking at a picture right now of two of my three girls, when they were maybe 6 and 7, on the set, playing characters. They were roped into it.”
At Peace with Captain Kirk
“Whatever success I’ve had is because of him. I was a leading man, kissing the girls and fighting the villains. That’s not a bad bag to be in.”
See more at AARP.
