Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader reads with some sadness that James Doohan, of Star Trek fame, has died of pneumonia complicated by Alzheimers. He was 85.

Chief Engineer Montgomery Scot of the Starship Enterprise is an enduring character of TV and film. And James Doohan will be immortal for that role.

Your Maximum Leader learned a few years back that Doohan had stormed the beached of Normandy with Canadian troops on D-day. But until reading this obituary, he had no idea that the Nazis shot off one of his fingers. Wow! Shot 6 times. A wounded war vet. Perhaps we should remember his as much for that as for any character role.

Carry on.