Helen Lester

In 1952, an English teacher named Cecil Dormand secretly paid for a dirt-poor 11-year-old to take a drama course. He never told him and the boy didn’t find out until decades later. By then, he was a knight, that little boy’s name was Patrick Stewart. He was born into a poor family in Mirfield, a small mill town in Yorkshire and his father came home from World War II a violent man, and he was violent toward Patrick’s mother. Young Patrick learned exactly when to step between his father’s fist and his mother. An English teacher put a copy of Shakespeare in his hand and told him to get up and perform. He never stopped and left school at 15. By 19 he was completely bald... most agencies told him he'd never make it because of that. In 1987, the LA Times called him an “unknown British Shakespearean actor” when he was cast as Captain Picard. Then he became one of the most famous faces on Earth. You’ve probably heard that part. Here’s the part you haven’t: He spent decades as a patron of Refuge, sheltering women and children from domestic violence. But he never stopped trying to understand his father. He dug up a 1940 newspaper clipping that said his dad had come home with severe shell shock. He went to France and walked the ground where his father’s unit was pinned down under bombing for hours. He learned his father had PTSD, and nobody ever helped him. So Patrick became an ambassador for Combat Stress, a charity that helps veterans. In 2013, a young woman at a Texas convention told him she was a survivor of domestic violence. He asked, “My dear, are you okay?” Then he hopped off the stage, held her, and told her: “You never have to go through that again, you’re safe now.” At Dragon Con, a Make-A-Wish girl dressed as Spock came to meet him. 2,000 people were waiting for him to speak... he sat down and talked with her for 15 minutes, making all of them wait. He told her that since they were friends now, whenever she saw him on screen she could wave and say, “Hello Patrick.” After 9/11, he felt helpless, so he brought his one-man A Christmas Carol back to Broadway for a full week of charity shows. He played every character himself and donated every cent. In 2019 he did it again, and every dollar went to feeding hungry New Yorkers. In 2017, he fostered a pit bull named Ginger, who had been rescued from a dogfighting ring. She was his first dog in more than 50 years. He couldn’t bring her home to England, so he found her a family. Then he kept fostering more. When he said he was done with Star Trek so many people told him the show had gotten them through the hardest times of their lives. So he wanted to see if Picard could do it one more time. Rest in Peace, Sir Patrick 🖖