X-Message-Number: 3334
Date:  Sat, 22 Oct 94 17:19:45 
From: 
Subject: CRYONICS -- CSNY Brochures


CSNY brochures

Regarding the brochures of CSNY and Cryo-Span, Dave Pizer correctly 
notes (message #3316) that one shows patients CSNY had suspended, 
which affects estimates of the date it was printed. At the time I wrote my 
message referring to these documents (#3304), I did not have them in 
front of me, though I had seen them before. (It would have been best, of 
course, to have had these important items at hand, though at the time it 
didn't seem necessary, and I didn't know their exact whereabouts. 
Besides I wanted to get the message out in a timely manner. I was 
addressing a posting that was already a day old, that I hadn't been able 
to get to before, because of the press of other commitments.) I now 
have the brochures in front of me. One is issued by Cryo-Span (the old 
organization in New York, not the new one in California), the other by 
CSNY. (Cryo-Span was the service provider for CSNY.) Both brochures 
are undated, so indirect evidence must be used to estimate when they 
were issued. In #3304 I estimated the dates as "mid- to late '60s" but 
based on internal evidence, I would now revise that to "about 1970" 
which, though a bit later, was still several years before CSNY patients 
began to be transferred (this was about August 1972, as I noted before). 
The CSNY brochure says in one place, "The Society publishes 
*Immortality* ..." That would date it between Jan. 1970 and Spring 1971, 
based on the publication dates of this newsletter. This brochure also 
shows two CSNY patients, Steven Mandell and Ann Deblasio, who were 
suspended in 1968 and 1969, respectively. The Cryo-Span brochure 
shows no actual cryonics patients (it uses a model to illustrate 
suspension procedures) but it does remark that cryonic suspension "is 
for those who believe that such electrifying feats as the conquest of the 
moon and heart transplantation are merely precursors of infinitely 
greater things to come ... ." This suggests (though does not prove) a 
printing date after the first moon landing, 21 July 1969.

I'm sure more light would be shed on these matters by examining other 
documents, which would be helped by the formation of a Cryonics 
Historical Society, as I outlined. So far though, I see no compelling 
reason to believe these brochures were produced at a time that CSNY 
was in dire straits and guilty thereby of major misrepresentation of its 
capabilities. As to content, the brochures do sound positive, particularly 
that of Cryo-Span, and the rhetoric probably did give the impression, in 
the minds of many, of a larger and better organized operation than was 
actually in place. For example, "Cryo-Span technical personnel include: 
specially trained physicians, scientists, funeral directors, and 
engineers" and "Cryo-Span advisory personnel include attorneys, 
insurance experts, estate planners, psychologists, and theologians." 
However, I think all of the points could be justified--there is certainly no 
outright lying--and it's normal in advertizing to put the best face on 
things, within reasonable limits. I don't feel that these limits were 
transgressed here, in a way that would stand up in court as an 
actionable offense. And we are still putting the best face on things, in 
our advertizing, as has been pointed out. But all business do this.

Mike Perry

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