I awoke to devastating news this morning.

I am sooo sad to hear of the passing of Thorsten Walch,

who translated my Kelley book into German.

I can’t stop crying…  Samoel Black in Germany sent me the message this morning, letting me know.

 

Sadly, regrettably, I never got to meet Thorsten

 

— except virtually in a couple EVER NEW podcasts and via emails — but we have been friends and collaborators for more than 20 years.

 

I first “met” Thorsten after he read the English language version of DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal (first released in a shorter version titled DeForest Kelley: A Harvest of Memories in 2001), when he wrote to extol its virtues and to thank me for writing it so his fans could get a deeper look at the splendid being who brought Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy to life.

 

Thorsten and I began to correspond via email

 

He told me of his and his wife Sabine’s connection to De in a long email exchange that touched me to my core.

 

By this time, I had heard from other fans of De’s about their personal (or virtual) experiences with his concern and kindness, and I started to consider writing a second book (THE ENDURING LEGACY OF DeFOREST KELLEY: ACTOR, HEALER, FRIEND) to showcase the fact that De wasn’t just “one fan’s friend”  but that he had established virtual friendships with many other fans across the globe, people whose stories had affected him and stayed with him for as long as he lived.

 

And of course, Thorsten was the first person I reached out to as a potential contributor, as his history with De fit perfectly into the section titled HEALER.  Thorsten was delighted to become a part of this project!

 

The German Translation of UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

 

I don’t recall if we had already agreed to Thorsten becoming the translator of the first DeForest Kelley edition but, at some point, I knew that I wanted no one else involved in it other than Thorsten because I knew he loved De as much as I did and that he would take utmost care to translate the book as well as he was capable of.

 

He started on the original edition (DeForest Kelley: A Harvest of Memories: My Life and Times with a Remarkable Gentleman Actor), which I had independently published through AuthorHouse in 2001.

 

But by the time he was significantly through translating the first version, I came out with a 50th Star Trek anniversary edition (DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal: A Harvest of Memories from the Fan Who Knew Him Best, 2016) that had dropped many of the earlier, less riveting passages and much of De’s dying days, and had added nearly 60 pages of drop-dead funny anecdotes.

 

When I told Thorsten about the new edition, he asked me to send him the new/updated manuscript. After seeing it, he decided that he needed to start from scratch using the new manuscript.

 

I was floored; he had already spent years getting as far as he had on the original!  But he reiterated that he wanted to do De justice and that “now I’m an even better translator than I was earlier!”  What a guy!

 

So, he went to work again, from the start

 

…and finally, just a few years ago, the German language edition came out. I don’t speak German, but I received a copy of the book, and I was tickled pink to hear that German fans loved it.

 

One of those fans, Ilonka Liska, who is at least bilingual (if not more) wrote to tell me that she had read both versions and that Thorsten had mirrored the book so precisely that she felt my hands and mind had actually written it.  That thrilled me to the bone because it meant that Thorsten “got” me (inhabited my mind and spirit) as well as he had DeForest Kelley’s.  I was over the moon!

 

Thorsten Was a Guest on EVER NEW

 

…twice, the podcast that Hannah McCrane and I co-hosted for a couple of years several years ago, as well as on Larry Nemecek’s podcast noting the 25th anniversary of De’s passing.  I can’t find these appearances anymore, sadly, or I would link them here so you could get a sense of Thorsten, if you never met him.

 

We Spoke Many Times Of Getting Me to Germany

 

…to appear at a world-renowned Star Trek convention there. And since Thorsten and Sabine were there, and several other German friends/Star Trek fans, I was very much looking forward to the day when I would be flown to the convention to speak with German fans about De as I would finally also be able to spend time in my grandparents’ homeland with my German virtual and actual friends. And especially to spend quality time with Thorsten and Sabine in their home, which they had offered as a place to stay while in Germany.

 

Alas, Getting to Germany Never Came to Pass 

 

…but Thorsten became De’s (and my) emissary at conventions before and following the publication of the German edition to help extend De’s legacy beyond Dr. McCoy and Star Trek, for which I will be eternally grateful.  His book about De (and his other books as well) will stand the test of time and continue to influence readers for a very long time.

 

My sincerest condolences to Sabine

 

… and to all of you who knew Thorsten personally and/or professionally.  You were very fortunate to have him in your life for as long as you did.  There are those of us who experienced only a smidgeon of what you have enjoyed with him, and we are saddened beyond expression to know that he is no longer with us.  But his legacy will continue from within his many books and in all of our fondest memories.

 

I miss you already, dear Thorsten, and will forever!