Dooley, Van Ness achieve Lego immortality

Fame can be fleeting, but long after a single human’s life span ends, people’s grandchildren will still be stepping on Lego’s.

And a long-time Quincy educator and one of her students who has won an Emmy and starred on television now join Batman, Luke Skywalker and Emmet in the don’t walk on them Walk of Fame.

On October 5 for $99.99, you can buy the LEGO Queer Eye set. With nearly 1,000 pieces (my feet hurt just thinking about it) the set shows off different rooms which have been featured in the popular Netflix TV show reboot.

Jonathan Van Ness, a Quincy native and hair stylist who first gained popularity with his “Gay of Thrones” takes on the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones”, was selected as part of the new Fab 5. In Season Four, the show selected former Quincy Public Schools Director of Music Kathi Dooley for a personal makeover and a remodeling of the Quincy High School teacher’s lounge.

Van Ness also wrote a book, has starred in multiple television commercials and recently launched his own line of hair care products. He credits his former teacher and mentor, Dooley, for much of his success and for “saving his life”.

So as part of your purchase, you will receive the classic Lego minifigures of Van Ness and his fellow Fab Fivers Bobby Berk, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Karamo Brown.

And not one…but two Kathi Dooley minifigures.

“Overwhelming…the whole Queer Eye experience has been,” Dooley said when asked about being a Lego. “The Lego people called during the Pandemic for permission to use my name. I asked that it be involved in a fundraiser, so they sent me a bunch of other Lego sets like Batman and Friends that I gave out at local fundraisers.”

Lego is based out of Denmark.

She said her closest association with Lego’s before this was when the kids in her music program always demanded a stop at Legoland in Florida during the QHS music trips to Disney, that took place every four years before the Pandemic.

“I hope it sheds some positive light on Quincy with all that we’ve been through and the country’s been through” she said. “We need some sunshine.”

No word on if a long lanyard with dozens of keys is included.

Photos from brickfantatics.com