X-Message-Number: 6172
Date: Fri, 10 May 1996 00:51:09 -0400 (EDT)
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: One More Leary Update

Re the report on Leary and cryonics in the LA Times: the journalist who
wrote the article, David Colker, happened to be at Leary's house on the
night when Mike and I removed the standby kit. He asked to interview us;
Mike said no, but foolishly I said yes. Colker called me on the weekend
and I spent at least an hour on the phone, trying to explain some
fundamentals of cryonics to him. (He knew nothing.) He managed to
misinterpret, miss, or misquote every single piece of information from me
that he included in his piece, including the costs of cryopreservation.

Needless to say, he concealed his personal opinion of cryonics from me 
throughout.

-----

Today, Kevin Kelly, Executive Editor of Wired magazine, happened to be in 
the LA area and was interested in visiting Timothy Leary. Since Kevin had 
not rented a car, I agreed to drive him to the Leary house on condition 
that I would wait in the car outside, since I had no idea whether some of 
the people at the house would want be pleased to see me.

After about twenty minutes, I was invited in. According to Kevin, he 
mentioned that I was outside, and Leary immediately said, "Well, bring him 
in, bring him in!"

Leary seemed in very good spirits and was sitting on the side of his bed,
browsing through news clippings, enjoying his press coverage (not just in
the LA Times, but on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle, with a
color picture). He greeted me warmly and said "I just want to be sure
there are absolutely no hard feelings." 

Leary's meetings with outsiders are almost always videotaped, and this 
one was no exception. If David Cosenza or anyone else doubts that the 
above statement is true, it's on tape.

We chatted for a while, then left when Leary's hospice physician arrived. 

Just before we left, I asked Leary what he plans to do instead of
cryonics. "I plan to have a death party," he said, "some time around the
year 1999." 

In fact I think he doesn't have a clue what he plans to do, but he's 
certainly enjoying the attention that he gets by being playful on the 
subject.

--CP


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