X-Message-Number: 6220
Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 06:58:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: Pizer/Leary

Dave Pizer, a director of Alcor, writes:

> CryoCare talked Leary into switching from Alcor after he became terminal 
> and was not thinking as clearly.

This is totally untrue and may also be defamatory, since it suggests that
CryoCare took advantage of someone who was no longer competent. I believe
Leary had NOT been diagnosed with any significant health problem when he
signed with CryoCare in November 1994. I would appreciate an apology,
Dave, from you and Alcor on this point. I'm amazed that you would write
something like this without bothering to check your facts. 

> Soon CryoCare and their service providers got into disputes with Leary's 
> friends who were living in Leary's home.

A dispute occurred with only one person, who had his own plan to videotape
the death of Timothy Leary and was not comfortable about sharing the
situation with anyone else. More to the point, there were no disputes
whatsoever with Leary himself. If you don't believe me, ask your fellow
directors who have spoken to Leary. Or call him. Alcor has the number. 

> Then Leary was dropped by CryoCare or he quit depending on whose version 
> you accept.

Leary has made it clear to everyone, including people from Alcor, that he
decided against cryonics generally. Please take the minimal amount of
trouble to consult your fellow directors for further details, Dave, or
call Leary and ask him. 

> I could imagine if Leary had not been talked into switching and Steve 
> Bridge and Tanya Jones had handled the situation instead of Darwin and 
> Platt.  

This is not a sentence. I don't know what it means.

> I suspect that instead of fighting with Tim's friends, Bridge and Jones (in 
> their usual fashion) would easily have talked Tim's friends into helping 
> Alcor with the standby and donating the additional money needed to cover 
> the balance of Tim's suspension.

Dave, with all due respect, you know less than nothing about this case. 
"Tim's friends" fall into two classes: those who live outside the Leary
residence and chose, in various ways, not to become actively involved;
and those who live inside the residence, have zero interest in cryonics,
and have no money. (They depend on Leary to subsidize their hand-to-mouth
existence. The idea of them helping to pay for his cryopreservation is
absurd.)

> Later most of them would have signed up for suspension themselves.

I invite you to contact them for yourself and learn exactly what they 
think about cryonics. Since there are about 8 or 10 people who have a 
fairly constant presence in the house, you have a lot of prospects to 
choose from. 

I really resent your general implication (which you share with Alcor's
David Cosenza) that I somehow poisoned the minds of an entire house full
of people. You may remember, Dave, that before I left Alcor, I was so
highly successful at promoting cryonics, you had to ask extra people at
various times to handle the additional load of phone calls. The idea that
I somehow spread anti-cryonics sentiments is insulting and bizarre,
especially since Keith Henson, another Alcor director, has stated
unequivocally that it is almost impossible to change Leary's mind about
anything. If I understand Henson correctly, I would not have been able to
turn Leary against cryonics even if I had wanted to. 

I disagree with Leary's decision not to be frozen, but I respect his right
to make that decision. What about you, Dave? Do you respect someone's
right to decide against cryonics, or would you FORCE him to be frozen
whether he wants it or not? 

--CP


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