Episode 140 - Books for Dads - The Most Human, Reconciling with My Father, Leonard Nimoy by Adam Nimoy

Adam was born during the Eisenhower administration to Leonard and Sandra Zoberblatt Nimoy. He attended the University Elementary School, a “lab school” run by UCLA, where he was subjected to numerous psychological experiments. The experimentation continued at UC Berkeley in the form of mind-altering substances from which he may, or may not, have fully recovered. In a state of absolute certainty, Adam attended Loyola Law School. He was wrong.

After seven years of practicing entertainment law and one moment of clarity, Adam left his life as an attorney to follow his passion of making films. After directing forty-five hours of network television, some of it sublime, some of it eminently unwatchable, Adam’s career plummeted due in large part to drug and alcohol addiction. On January 1, 2004, Adam entered 12-Step recovery hoping to achieve an attitude adjustment. This was a New Year’s resolution he knew he had to keep. For 8 years, he taught writing, directing and acting at the New York Film Academy and taught filmmaking at Beit T’Shuvah, an addiction treatment center where the residents kept him on the straight and narrow.

Book: The Most Human: Reconciling with My Father, Leonard Nimoy

"Engaging and immensely relatable, while at the same time offering deeply profound insights into Adam Nimoy's personal relationships, particularly with his famous father." — Eugene Roddenberry Jr., CEO Roddenberry Entertainment

Living with Dad was like living with a stranger— as a kid I often had trouble connecting and relating to him. But I was always proud of him. Even before Star Trek I'd see him popping up in bit roles on some of my favorite TV shows like Get Smart, Sea Hunt, and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. And then one night he brought home Polaroids of himself in makeup and wardrobe for a pilot he was working on.

It was December 1964 and nobody had heard of Star Trek. Still, the eight-year-old me had watched enough Outer Limits and My Favorite Martian to understand exactly what I was looking at. Spock's popularity happened quickly, and soon the fan magazines were writing about dad's personal life, characterizing us as a "close family." But the awkwardness that defined our early relationship blossomed into conflict, sometimes smoldering, sometimes open and intense. There were occasional flashes of warmth between the arguments and hurt feelings— even something akin to love— especially when we were celebrating my father's many successes. The rest of the time, things between us were often strained.

My resentment towards my father kept building through the years. I wasn't blameless, I know that now, but my bitterness blinded me to any thought of my own contribution to the problem. I wanted things to be different for my children. I wanted to be the father I never had, so I coached Maddy's soccer, drove Jonah to music lessons, helped them with their homework— all the things dads are supposed to do. All the things I wanted to do. So what if my Dad and I had been estranged for years? I was living one day at a time. And then I got his letter. That marked a turning point in our lives, a moment that cleared the way for a new relationship between us.

Amazon link: https://amzn.to/3KvTi1s

https://adamnimoy.com/

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https://dadspace.ca

music provided by Blue Dot Sessions

Song: The Big Ten