Windmill

James Doohan was Star Trek’s second-oldest cast member. (DeForest Kelley beat him by five weeks.) When he auditioned for the Enterprise’s engineer, he tried several accents. Gene Roddenberry asked him which accent he preferred, and Doohan replied, “In my experience the best engineers are Scotsmen.” So, he became Montgomery Scott, named for Doohan’s grandfather. “Scotty” inspired countless fans to become engineers, including Astronaut Neil Armstrong. He once received a letter from a fan, confessing she was suicidal. He called her and said, “I'm doing a convention in Indianapolis, and I want to see you there.” He arranged to meet her at every convention for the next three or four years – maybe 18 conventions. Eight years later he received another letter from her: “I want to thank you so much for what you did for me. I just got my master's degree in electronic engineering!” Doohan always said it was the best thing he ever did.