RIP Patrick Stewart |

RIP Patrick Stewart

This is not what I want to be writing right now. On 28 October 2026, Patrick Stewart passed away at the age of eighty-six.

He was an actor of a generation. He was a master thespian, a Shakespearean actor who loved the stage and treasured the roles that every great actor wants: Kings and leaders and rulers and characters who shape the destiny of others and of entire nations. He was a magnetic figure both on stage and on screen, and audiences — and the cameras — loved him.

When he was cast in Star Trek: The Next Generation, there were many sceptical people out there. I remember the period well. “That’s the Captain?” people cried during the promotional period before the show aired. They just didn’t get it … after all, he didn’t look like Captain Kirk. He wasn’t exactly young. He was bald. He was an unknown in North America, even though most of us had seen Excalibur and Lifeforce. But then …

But then, Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered in 1987. Picard finally appeared on USS Enterprise-D. The camera moved toward him … he was standing in a doorway, his figure largely hidden in shadow. There was a single ray of light on him. He stepped forward, and then Encounter At Farpoint really began. He started speaking. The way he carried himself around the bridge and the ship. The way he moved. The way he marched through the corridors.

The way he commanded his crew …

He’d taken all those roles, all the knowledge, all the Shakespearean leaders and all the kings of industry that he’d studied while on stage in England, and he channeled them into this character.

Jean Luc Picard.

And he was magnificent.

Above: Image from the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (Encounter At Farpoint)

He’d created a remarkable character.

You could say that if it weren’t for Patrick Stewart’s casting, The Next Generation might not have been the hit it was, at least at the very start. The entire cast was phenomenal, but in those initial episodes, Patrick Stewart carried the mantel of fan expectations, and he succeeded at it brilliantly. The story he often told on talk shows was that he assumed the job would only last for six months. He expected the show to be cancelled early — as did his agent.

Well, the show ended up running for seven years and four movies, then three more seasons with the streaming series, Picard. It’s tribute to him that he didn’t move back to England after six months. Star Trek: The Next Generation was a massive success, in no small part due to Patrick Stewart.

His list of credits is extensive. There are 160 projects listed at IMDB. Just a few of them include:

Excalibur, Dune (1984), Lifeforce, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Generations/First Contact/Insurrection/Nemesis, Conspiracy Theory, Masterminds, X-Men, X2: X-Men United, Logan, X-Men: The Last Stand, Hamlet, Ice Age: Continental Drift, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Extras, Green Room, The Emoji Movie, Charlie’s Angels, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Sheep Detectives

What a life. He will live on forever.

My condolences to his friends and family. He was more than an actor. He was a legend. He was a superhero to so many people, both in fictional worlds and in real life. This one really, really hurts. Rest in Peace, Sir Patrick.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 30 October 2026

Here is a marvellous scene of Patrick Stewart dealing with past trauma and a current battle versus the borg, his mortal enemy, in Star Trek: First Contact. (Credit to YouTube channel Movieclips.) He was simply miraculous. He truly was one of a kind.

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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 30 October 2026

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories

“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007