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 Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=3334