X-Message-Number: 12869
Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999 17:16:53 -0500
From: david pizer <>
Subject: Another failed suspension

I was reading in Cryonics Magazine where another person who had been an
Alcor member before and membership had expired, died and did not get a
cryonics suspension.  I commend the Alcor Board for doing what they did to
try to offer some help, but as the article relates, it does not offer much
if any chance for that person.

This story reminded me of the MANY times in the past that previous Alcor
members have died and did not get as good as suspension as they might have
if they had spent (at least) the last part of their lives in a
"cryonics-friendly" facility.

The Society for Venturism has wanted to build and operate that type of
facility for years but has not had the support (including financial
support) to build this facility.  The Venturist Board will be meeting
Saturday December 4th.  Our main topic will be to see if we can find
support to construct a cryonics community in Arizona for cryonicists to
come and live.  This facility would be open to people of all ages and also
suited to older persons who need a supportive community.

Many of us cryonicists do not realize the conditions that may exist when it
is our turn to become dead.  Right now, we may have a spouse or children or
friends that we thing will support our cryonics wishes.  But when we are
older, or perhaps have been sick for a while, we may find ourselves alone
and surronded by noncryonicists who may have legal decision making power
over us.  Or, may just be able to influence us away from our cryonics
wishes.  

This has happened MANY times in the past.  Forgive me but I want to repeat
that statement.  This has happened many times to people just like you and
me who were cryoncists for many years and as they got older got themselves
into situations where they did not get a good suspension or in some cases
did not get any suspension.

  Just a few instances I remember are a lady in Southern California who the
courts appointed a conservator over her, and the conservator did not want
her to be frozen even though she had been a suspension member for many
years.  This person had to fight a court battle to replace the conservator,
while she was not in her best mental condition.  Even at this, she did not
get nearly as good a supension as would have been possible is she had
deanimated in Arizona in a cryonics supported community.

The man in Florida who's wife was frozen years earlier and was a loyal and
outspoken suspension member for many years.  When the time of death came
upon him, at the last minute, he changed his will and left some of his
estate elsewhere and tried to kill himself.  It was only through Alcor's
super efforts that he got any suspension at all.  This was one of the most
supportive Alcor members ever during most of his life and in the last year
everything went to pot.

During the last months he was under so much pressure and stress that he did
not make good decisions relating to his coming suspension.  Had he been
living in a cryonics supportive community in Arizona things would have been
much better.

There was the publicized case of Dick Jones.  At the end he changed his
will and left half the money that previously was to go to cryonics (and
possibly improve his chances too) to his relatives.  Then, the hospital was
not going to support his getting handed over quickly to Alcor for
suspension at his legal death and cryonicists had to go to court to force
the hospital to not cause additional problems.  It was lucky for Dick that
he was a high profile case and there were cryonicists there to help.  

There was the younger cryonicist that died alone in his apartment and layed
there for days until his brain turned to mush.  There was no chance for
him.  Had he lived in a cryonics community, that checked on its members,
this could have been a much better situation. 

There was Tim Leary who's house where he was dying was filled with
non-cryonicist who, I believe, contributed to his non-suspension.  

I am not going to go through all the cases that have similar sad endings as
this.  But I believe the record will show that there may have been as many
(or even more) cases where Alcor was not notified promptly, suspension
arrangements have been canceled, or some other inferior condition was
allowed to exist that caused the patient to get a compromised, poorer,
perhaps ineffective, suspension, as there have been that went very good.

If this is true as I think it is, that means creating this facility will at
least double your and my chances of getting a good suspension.  I can't
think of any other single thing that can be done now that will double our
chances.

Where will you be in 10, 20, 30 or 50 years?

Who will be there to see that your dues get paid, your insurance is paid,
that relatives or other well-meaning people do not talk you out of it.

What will be your mental state when death is no longer years away, but just
a month or a week?  Will you bravely look death in the face and make
rational decisions, or will you babble, wail and crawl into bad decisions?
I think most of us would find it helpful to be surrounded by fellow
cryonicists at a horrible time like that.

In my opinion, creating a stable cryonics-supportive community is the
single most important thing that CAN be done now with today's resources and
today's technology to improve a cryonicists chances of surviving death.

We have some of the resources but we need more to do this right.

If you have any thoughts on this, and want to express them to the Venturist
Board, please send them to me at my private address () or
on CryoNet if you like, before Friday December 3rd.  We especially need to
know if there are people interested enough to either make a significant
financial donation or an investment with a bank-rate type return.

There are several ways this could proceed.  From a modest beginning of a 4
to 8 unit complex with room to grow larger, in an area in Phoenix but
probably not within 5 miles of Alcor (in the $250,000 to $400,000 range; to
starting with a larger complex or 30 to 50 units (we would have to rent to
some non-cryonicists at first) with meeting rooms, a library, an exercise
room, a swimming pool, spa,  lunch room, assisted care division, ect. (We
would need several million for this one).

If you want a supportive community to be available for you in the future,
then you need to start now to help get it developed.

Are you interested?

Dave Pizer
For the Venturists

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