David O'Mahony: The legacy of Patrick Stewart and all he stood for gives us a reason to be hopeful

Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek played a standard bearer for hope — a resolute, upright sort of hope determined to bring people along rather than risk leaving swathes behind

Johnathan Frakes and Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: First Contact

Hope seems to be in the air, for different reasons. It’s like the dream of Rome that Marcus Aurelius describes in the film Gladiator: say it in anything more than a whisper, and it might vanish.

But enough about the blue wave that swept across America this week, even if the wide range of the elected candidates reminded me the beauty of a republic is strength through diversity. I’m thinking more about the legacy of Patrick Stewart.