As the iconic James Tiberius Kirk, headstrong, stout-hearted captain of the Starship Enterprise, actor William Shatner has met a veritable galaxy of “Star Trek” devotees over more than five decades.
Earlier this month, however, the 91-year-old celebrity may have crossed into a whole new frontier of providing his autograph to a fan of the classic science-fiction television series.
Following his personal appearance at the Clay Center Feb. 8 for a showing of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” and a subsequent audience Q&A session, Shatner beamed up some of his fans for a backstage meet-and-greet session.
Among the first in line, by special arrangement, were Robert (“Bob”) Foulkes, with his wife, Angela Tolbert-Foulkes, and their longtime family friend, Victoria Casey, who had masterminded the close encounter with the starship captain (oops, wrong franchise!).
Angela has cerebral palsy and Bob is her primary caregiver. He received a prosthetic leg after a portion of his right leg was amputated due to diabetes complications in August. Being a virtual super-nova in “Star Trek” fan firmament, he decided to adorn his replacement limb with a fabric covering depicting Kirk, Spock, Lt. Uhura, and other “Star Trek” luminaries.
“The prosthetics doctor, Dave, showed me a couple of things other people had gotten with designs on them,” Foulkes said. “I thought, ‘Daggone — I like that! Can I get one of “Star Trek,” all of the characters of the bridge crew?’ He said yeah, got the fabric and fitted it and put it on me.”
Born in 1961, Foulkes said he watched “Star Trek” when it first aired on NBC-TV in 1966 “and I’ve been watching it ever since, the actual show and reruns. At home, I watch ‘Star Trek’ on MeTV, diligently at 11 p.m. on Saturdays.”
When Casey learned of Shatner’s impending appearance late last year, she sought to boldly purchase tickets to the event for the couple who are both in wheelchairs and residing temporarily at the Riverside Health and Rehabilitation Center in St. Albans as Foulkes receives physical therapy to adapt to his artificial leg.
“I started thinking of how great it would be for Bob to have that autograph on his prosthesis,” Casey said. “He had been staying pretty upbeat throughout the amputation process and having to move out of his home temporarily and leave his cat. Imagine how hard on both of them to leave their apartment for nursing home life for several months.”
She secured the tickets for the film and talk, but was taken aback upon discovering additional backstage passes cost a daunting $100 each.
Casey wrote to the Clay Center asking if there might be an exception made for her friends and herself to procure special passes. Told it was, unfortunately, probably not possible, she Googled “Shatner contacts” and sent out letters to three possibilities she found online. “I sent them a picture of the fabric that was going to be used on the prosthesis.”
She received a reply from a woman named Kathleen (“I think she’s his personal assistant,” Casey said) and explained her mission in greater detail. Kathleen consulted with Shatner, who agreed to meet the Foulkeses and place his signature on Bob’s distinctive piece of “Star Trek” memorabilia.
Foulkes had met Shatner once before, when the actor mingled with fans at a St. Francis Hospital event in the late 1990s. During that visit, Foulkes recalled, he pitched Shatner an idea for a science-fiction novel. “He’d written 50 of them; I told him mine could be his 51st and he could mention me in the inscription, which would be cool,” he said.
“I was happy as a clam,” Foulkes said of his encore audience with his “favorite captain” at the Clay Center this month. “I play a ‘Star Trek’ game on xBox and have gotten myself up to a fleet admiral on it. He was a lowly admiral in one of the movies that came out, so I told him, ‘Mr. Shatner, I outrank you.” He goes, ‘OK, what rank are you?’ I said, ‘Fleet admiral,” and he goes, ‘Uh-oh.’”
Following a fist bump, Shatner autographed the fabric.
“I enjoyed myself,” Foulkes said. “Basically, it was my first time going to the Clay Center, although I drove by it millions of time going to the bank.”
While there, the Foulkeses also encountered a familiar face among the Trekkers and Trekkies: Riverside Certified Nursing Assistant Lee Suttles, who works with the couple at the health and rehabilitation center and who dressed as Commander William Ryker from the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” franchise for the occasion.
Casey also arranged for a Kanawha Alternative Transit bus to transport the couple to the Clay Center
and back to the health and rehabilitation center. “The KAT bus had to head back to St. Albans by 11:59 that night, so I told the folks at the Clay Center it was sort of a ‘Cinderella’ situation we had,” Casey said. (They got back to St. Albans in time; no warp speed, presumably, factored into their voyage.)
“I’ve always been a fan of William Shatner,” Tolbert-Foulkes said, “but I knew of him from ‘Rescue 911’ in the ‘90s. He’s the kindest man you’ll ever meet. When Tory said she got us the passes, I was thrilled for Bob and thrilled for me. It was a lot of fun for us, and we really enjoyed ourselves.”
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