MY FRIEND BASIL LANGTON

Rest in Peace, dear friend Basil

In 1998 , Basil Langton appeared in Star Trek. At the end of the shooting of the last episode in which he appeared, the technicians and the actors gave him a standing ovation . The producer toasted him and said : "We’ll bring you back Basil—You’ll be a blob of snowflake on the windshield, and you’ll come back to life." The producer couldn’t have said better . Basil’s many friends will bring him back to life although he doesn’t need anyone for that purpose. Indeed, his works in the domains of art and photography bespeak of his many talents . Shakespearian actor, theater director, artistic photographer, painter, collagiste, he also taught an annual course on theater when he lived in New York. Many talented, he was interested (and interesting !) in all domains of human activities and achievements .

I certainly will miss our discussions about the performing arts, about cinema and television, about literature and … the world . Lately, especially after the Balkan’s mess and September 11, 2001, he was distressed by the chaos and human violence that was spreading all around the planet. In one of his last letters (feb 25 /2002) he wrote : "I think of you often in these tragic days, that must be personally difficult for you and Gisela. I hope that where you now live makes it a little easier to survive in this world of chaos. For Judith and I, in California , we are blessed to live far from Afghanistan, the Middle East, Serbia, Africa. Yet , wherever we live, as my favorite philosopher Noel Coward once said (Private Lives) "There’s no escape ever," human violence is everywhere, a plague as incurable as AIDS. It distresses me that I am addicted to begin my day reading newspapers and end my day watching the TV news – in the hope that what I am reading and listening to is the truth. But misinformation has always been the practice of governments. Which led Bernard Shaw to warn us not to have a "newspaper mind" …With understanding, friendship and love."

Fereydoun Hoveyda. Clifton, Virginia.

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