Patrick Stewart spent three years writing his memoir, Making It So and published it in early October, 2023. It covers his life from his birth in 1940 through to the present day. The title is based on his Star Trek character’s tagline, “Make It So”.
Some Background
I’ve been a Star Trek fan practically my entire life. I used to watch the show on WPIX channel 11 each night (believe it or not, I was too young to watch it when it initially aired). I had the dolls. I built Enterprise and Klingon ship models. I even tried to defend the first movie in my desire to rekindle the franchise (thank g-d for Wrath of Kahn). Other than attending conventions and dressing in uniform, I was pretty much all in.
So, when they rebooted Star Trek in the 80s I was all in again. I wasn’t as completely in love with the reboot, initially, as my younger self had been. I thought the first season fell a little flat. It hurt me when they brought Diana Muldaur in to play Dr. Pulaski in the second season. (I think I held a grudge from her TOS appearances.) Not to mention I much preferred Beverly Crusher. But I loved Captain Jean-Luc Picard almost from the get-go. He had a regalness, a nobility, a maturity that Kirk never had. While the younger me preferred the bad boy Kirk, the older me preferred Picard more.
Making It So – My Thoughts
Hence, when I saw that Patrick Stewart wrote Making It So, I knew I had to read it. Lucky for me, using the “notify me when the library purchases feature”, I ended up as second on the wait list (now there are 42 people waiting for one of two copies). Even luckier, the library only purchased the audio version which he narrates! So, I got to spend about 13 hours (I listened at 1.5 speed) to Patrick Stewart telling me about his life!
And what a life! I think we were on Chapter 18 or so before we even got to TNG, and who cared! His story is fascinating, funny, sad and he tells it in an honest, sometimes self-deprecating, way that a man of his age reflecting back can. He paints a picture so well; my only regret is that he didn’t author more books.
I normally don’t give five stars to books that I feel appeal to a very specific segment of the population, but I’m giving that to this book. Furthermore, I don’t think you have to be a Trekkie to appreciate it. It’s a life well-lived and a story well-told.