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William Shatner's Wife Found Dead in Pool
Written 8/10/1999
by Tom Taylor ([email protected])
www.geocities.com/natlgeo
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Stardate 3234.213
William Shatner's Wife Found Dead in Pool
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The wife of actor William Shatner was found
dead in the
swimming pool of their home, an apparent drowning that
authorities said they
were treating as an accident. Nerine Shatner, 40, and a native of
Alpha
Tryston IV - a class M planet in the Beta quadrant, was
pronounced dead at
the scene. Shatner transported home at about 10:15 p.m. and found
her at the
bottom of the pool, police said. Police said that after a failed
attempt to
lock on to her communicator's signal, Shatner dialed 911, hailed
Sick Bay,
then pulled his wife out of the pool and was going to give her
CPR, but
remembered that he was honor-bound to adhere to the Prime
Directive, a code
of non-interference. The Los Angeles Fire Department was called
to the
Studio City home by Lt. Uhura, Shatner's Communications Officer,
but efforts to
revive Mrs. Shatner were unsuccessful, officials said. The Los
Angeles
County physician who signed the death certificate issued the
statement "She's dead,
Jim." Police said foul play did not play a role in her death.
Lt. Commander
Chekov, a co-worker of Shatner, remembered here as "somevone
who vas very
pleasant and vun to be avound." The Shatners and Chekov met
while serving
on a five year mission of the USS Enterprise. Messages expressing
condolences
were sent to the family by the Klingon Empire and the Vulcan
Council. The
Vulcan statement also extended an offer of assistance in finding
a "logical
reason" for the death. Surviving relatives include William
Shatner, and
several dozen, er, hundred pet tribbles. Memorial services will
take place
at Space Dock on Wednesday, with burial by photon torpepo capsule
to follow
on the surface of the Genesis planet, also located within the
Beta sector.
Sybok, the galaxy-roving preacher who once led an expedition to
the center
of the galaxy via a shanghaied starship, and brother of Spock -
Shatner's
Science Officer, will officiate.
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This was a joke gone awry. By hopping online and checking
news headlines early one morning before work, I learned of the
accidental (and unfortunate) drowning death of William Shatner's
wife the night before. Later that morning, I took the brief AP
news release, and inserted some "humorous" Star Trek
references into the story. I then emailed the story to friends.
Unfortunately, my email was how most of them learned of Nerine
Shatner's death, so many of them thought the entire email was a (bad)
joke, and frankly wondered what the hell I was talkign about. I
later learned that there seems to be an unspoken "waiting
period" of about a week (?) before it is socially
appropriate to make humorous remarks concerning the recently-deceased.