Capt. Kirk Feels Shatner's Pain
September 18 -- William Shatner was devastated by the death of his wife, Nerine, but he found a way to channel his grief into his new book, Star Trek Preserver, the TV icon tells TV Guide.
Just as Shatner himself tried to revive his wife after her accidental drowning, Shatner's alter ego, Capt. James T. Kirk, struggles in the novel to save his dying wife.
Preserver, which was released in July, also opens with a poem Shatner wrote to his late wife.
"When someone dies, for a while, you want to make some meaning out of a life," Shatner says in the Sept. 23 issue of TV Guide. "You go on a spiritual journey. And hopefully, you don't stop."
Shatner's wife, Nerine, drowned in the family's swimming pool in August 1999. The coroner ruled that alcohol and Valium contributed to her death, which was ruled accidental.
"The loss of someone you love is horrible enough. But to do it with the public, with the media at your heels, is almost unendurable," Shatner said. Star Trek Preserver was released in July.
The actor, who just returned from a long trip to Israel, tells Variety's Army Archerd, "I've come to understand life is for the living and I understand a lot more about life and living."
The Star Trek star is establishing the Nerine Shatner Friendly House as a rehab center for young people.
He's also continuing to work. Those Priceline ads may be on hold until the end of the commercial actors' strike, but he's not idle. Shatner is prepping a UFO-themed movie called Groom Lake and can be seen in the Sandra Bullock film Miss Congeniality.
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