As a rule, I avoid doing this kind of thing. it seems too hokey for me as the words people use tend to be cliched to the point of menaninglessness and I'd just sound like some phoney, but to do anything Space Patrol without some recognition of Ed Kemmer would be just flat out wrong. In her book, Jean-Noel Bassior was describing what she called the "compassionate hero", Ayn Rand sought to create the fully "larger than life hero", Ed Kemmer, through Buzz Corry, created the believeable hero. You didn't have to "buy" the show to buy the character. Buzz Corry could have been a big city cop, a western sheriff or a military commander in some US branch of the service and it would have been the same: A stand-out, stand-up guy through and through.That's not to say that Buzz was never bested or knuckled under; he was and did-plenty, so the heroics weren't false bravado, but when the space dust settled, Buzz Corry and the Space Patrol came out on top.
From my observation, I don't think anyone had more of an impact on the world of space than Ed Kemmer; nor was as unaware of that. despite the fact that it would have been plainly apparent to anyone who gave it a modicum of thought. if you looked at Space Patrol and the US space program, it would have jumped out at you.
As Buzz Corry, he gave us a hero to believe in. In the psychological sense Buzz was very real. both in a positive and negative sense. In character, he was the perfect compliment to the uncle I was raised by, and practically worshipped from before I can remember until he died when I was age 17. On the negative side, all my aunt had to say was "What would Commander Corry Say if he heard about this" if I got out of line.
Listening to interviews with him, you find that Mr. Kemmer truly marvelled at the effect he had on early space scientists
I first met Mr. Kemmer at MonsterRally99, he being there as the "model" for Buzz Lightyear. Where he went the Space Patrol that we loved was there. When you interacted with Mr. Kemmer in that context the Patrol was very real, Outside that context He was a man of great worth as well. His skills off the stage were quite numerous; to name a few, a musician, a war hero and a skilled craftsman. I'm told that as an actor he worked ever day of his career, which is quite an accomplishment. Upon retirement, he was well off enough to live in the Riverside Drive area of New York City. He could be funny as well as very engaging. At no time did you have the impression when interacting with him that he was "on". it just flowed naturally.
It seems that his passing left a hole in the Space Cadet world like no other. He is still memorialized after more than a year beyond his demise.
So impressed was the Space Opera world with him that a few attempts were made to get him to play Solarguard Captain Steve Strong but Mr. Kemmer is reported to have said that it is wrong for an actor who played one space hero to play the part of another. Pity: He'd have been an interesting Colonel McCauley or Enterprise Captain.
Another thing: Recently, I was listening to the Jerry Doyle show. Jerry played Michael Garibaldi on Babylon 5. He also flew F-16's and ran for congress as a Republican and calls himself an "independent conservative". The show is a mixed bag of topics; politics, things he has done or seen, cultural subjects, etc. He was talking about the B5 fans who wrote him about his character. One in particular wrote "...When you opned the safe, the combination you used was '12...'". Doyle said "...it dosen't matter, the thing would have opened whatever I used...Get real!". it is said that the job of fiction is to bring about the "...willing suspension of disbelief". Nothing says more about your credibility (as an actor) than how you talk to the fans: and, if what I hear is true, that goes for Harrison Ford, too. Talking down to them speaks volumes. Knowing what "trekkies" are (still) like, I had to be sort of dragooned into going to MonsterRally by Mike Elmo. I figured "That's all Mr. Kemmer needs; another Space Patrol nut". Did I get a surpise. When the fans spoke with Mr. Kemmer about Space Patrol, one got the idea that Mr. Kemmer was right there with them and treated them with respect, dignity and honor. As an example. At MonsterRally 99, four of us Spacemen were in the bar and Mr. Kemmer came in and engaged us. Later, he was autographing Chuck Lassen's Space Patrol Dart Gun. I was going to do my "bratty kid being ignored, who fully deserves to be" act for laughs, but stopped before I started. I got a look at Mr. Kemmer's body language and he was in another world with that thing, loving every second of it. This was such a great thing to see for me that I did not follow through as I just didn't want to spoil it and I was too busy watching. Beyond that. I am trained to Psychology. Now persons get the idea that what we like is to mess around inside persons skulls. Well some of us do. I have two other motivations, I do not like to intrude and I like to look at the broader persona. As a result, I avoid inserting myself into the topic unless it requires me to, as in a personal remembrance. To do so intrudes on a person who has as much right to exist as I do and it colors or adds "spin" to the "read" I get, neither of which does me any good. This being the case, and remembering the Nimoy/Spock tragedy, I engaged Mr. Kemmer outside the context of Space Patrol. What I found was a rich, well developed being, whom I found to be a real pleasure. What Mr. Kemmer did as Buzz Corry was not just generate a willing suspensionn of disbelief, he generated a reason to believe in a character, which is far greater. Also, he kept it going when dealing with the Space Patrol fans. How many persons hw welcomed into the "Space Patrol Family" I do not know.
For the Space Patrol Commission, I have chosen those who knew him and admired him. I definitely intend to carry on the Buzz Corry Regime. As both Buzz Corry and himself, Ed Kemmer was Mr. space Patrol and the best spokesman for the space ideal that there could have been.
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