Book Report: Diplomatic Act

Title	Diplomatic Act
Rating
Tags	sf, actors, aliens
	Jurasik is an actor who played Londo Mollari on the TV Show Babylon 5. So when I saw a reference to the book I got hold of a copy. I'm glad I did. It is a great read. It starts with a humorous, irreverent style, but turns out to be a well-written SF novel, in my opinion. The plot is similar in its most important element to the movie Galaxy Quest, in that an actor is kidnapped by aliens who think he is an elder who can stop an interstellar war. The aliens leave a substitute for the actor, an anthropologist, of course, who takes the opportunity to learn about more about humans The rest of the story alternates between what's happening to the actor and the alien. What did I like? I like the writing style, the plot is pretty decent though a little generic. I really like that the authors create aliens who are as wildly inventive physically as those of James White in the Sector General series. Altogether a fun book.
	Author – Jurasik, Peter Author – Keith, William H.
Publication	Baen (1998), Hardcover, 368 pages
Publication date	1998
ISBN	0671877887 / 9780671877880

What a baseball game!

I love the IMDB database. If you're not familiar with it, it is a marvelous resource for information on movies, TV shows, and actors. I use it all the time while watching TV. Today I looked up Roy Dotrice, whom I know most for playing Father on the late 80s TV show Beauty and the Beast. I was reminded of him by seeing him on an episode of Babylon 5 (I'm rewatching my DVDs of that wonderful series).

Turns out Dotrice has had a pretty fascinating life. Born in 1923 as an Englishman, he was a prisoner of war in Germany for 3 years and became interested in acting while performing in prison plays. Later he spent many years in the troupe that became the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was the father of three daughters, all of whom acted on and off, including Karen, well-known for her child acting roles in Disney films, most notably the little girl in Mary Poppins.

Anyway, the IMDB bio of Dotrice mentions this really fascinating piece of history:

"Considers one of his greatest achievements as introducing baseball to the Royal Shakespeare Company into what had been a cricket stronghold. In 1959 the actor pitched for his classically-trained team that included at first base, Paul Robeson (Othello); second base, Sam Wanamaker (Iago); third base, Laurence Olivier (Coriolanus), short stop, Peter O'Toole (Shylock); Charles Laughton (Lear) plate umpire and Albert Finney his catcher."

Wow! I'm not much of a sports fan, but I'd have paid to see that game, and paid more to see the plays...what casting!

Dotrice is now 85, and is in a movie now in post production. That speaks of a life well lived in a profession well loved.