X-Message-Number: 26234
Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 00:32:25 -0500
From: The NanoAging Institute <>
Subject: Ted Williams, nephew

I saw this on sci.cryonics on newsgroups:

Dear XXXX:
    I recently read your column requesting dignity for my uncle, Ted
Williams. I'm afraid the time for outrage has long since passed.
    Ted's eldest daughter, Bobby Jo, waged a long, expensive battle at
great personal expense with the estate to have her father's wishes
followed as outlined in his will. Presidents and senators didn't say a
word.
    My brother and I succeeded in gaining access to the paperwork from
Alcor, the cryogenics facility where Ted is interred. Our intention was
to discover the truth of how he arrived at such a place against his
will.
    As anticipated, a majority of Ted's children (John Henry and
Claudia), signed him up to his final resting place. Legally that is
their right, as it was their right to go against his will. I don't
believe there is much left to say on the issue.
    Interestingly enough, now at Alcor, TW is no longer Ted Williams,
the great ballplayer, Marine hero, champion for the health of children,
family member and individual. He is a number, a specimen, stored
tissue, an experiment. He has lost his identity as a real American hero
and has become simply a donation to science: a lab sample property.
    More disturbing is the thought of his being resurrected in the
coming years.
    Cryonogists are imagining an age of atomic-sized, nanotech robot
machines, thousands and thousands of them rebuilding the cells of a
frozen body over the course of a year or two.
    With millions of people without adequate health coverage today,
it's hard for me to imagine an altruistic society of the future that
would willingly finance the reanimation of frozen corpses. And assuming
they do come back, who will house them, feed them, or provide the
ongoing health care that is bound to be required? Friends and known
family members will be long gone.
    But for now, unless Claudia chooses to release him, his frozen
interment is permanent. No amount of legal hairsplitting will change
that. His kids got what they wanted. Sadly, he did not.
    Ted Williams, nephew 
    California

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