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Date: Mon, 1 Aug 88 10:10 EDT
From: "(Roy R. Beatty) Keane, Inc. [BEATTYR] 302-774-0335 B-10217"
<BEATTYR%JLVX02%>
Subject: CRYONICS Questions Potpourri
To: ho4cad!kqb%
X-VMS-To: @BWINE:[BEATTYR.MAIL]CRYO,BEATTYR
Status: R
Kevin,
I have been "reading up" on cryonics for several months. There are
several issues that are unresolved in my mind:
1) ALCOR was raided by a coroner's office. On balance the raid and
persecution of ALCOR seems to be politically/publicity oriented.
Could legal harassment freeze cryonics in its tracks? As a
suspension member, are you worried whether the organization you
chose will exist long enough to perform the procedure (may that be
a long way off!) and long enough to provide many years of
refrigeration?
2) I don't have $20,000 or $100,000 in cash lying around. I under-
stand that one means of providing the funds necessary for
suspension is life insurance. I was told that "Universal Life"
was far preferable to "Term" because Universal, though initially
more expensive, has relatively constant payments as the policy-
holder grows older. Whereas Term is initially cheaper (by 50%?)
but gets prohibitively expensive as you get older. Perhaps a
shrewd "suspender" could 1) buy term insurance, 2) invest an amount
equal to his/her premiums in a vehicle returning more than the
paltry percentage offered by Universal Life policies, and 3) wind
up with $50k well before the Term policy get prohibitive. I am a
novice at all of this and am curious about how you financed your
suspension.
3) What paperwork was involved with your suspension?
4) What is Trans-Time, Inc.; who operates it; what is their business;
do "suspenders" contract with them directly?
5) I, too, am a loyal reader of Claustrophobia. I called the ubiquitous
Cryonix C. Hartman for some information, and he sent me some fliers
from one of the suspension organizations. Is he just playing
Johnny Cryoseed? Or does he offer some other specific services?
6) Is there any bad blood (or glycerol) among any of the organizations?
7) Here are some statistics I've gathered. In all of human history,
only about 40 humans have been suspended. Improper arrangements
were made for some suspensions performed in the 1960s: only 15 or
16 persons remain suspended today (ALCOR seems to hold a majority
of them). Contrary to public conception, suspension has never been
a fad, never been popular. Have you had any success convincing
close relatives to look into this alternative? What arguments
are effective? Do you think suspension is an option which will
only interest the technologically literate?
Well, those are enough questions for now. I address them to you and
anyone else on the mailing list. I appreciate your mailings and look forward
to seeing more and more traffic on this mailing list!
Roy Beatty
PS: Claustrophobia would probably be glad to send sample issues on request
to anyone reading this mailing list. Tom Donaldson (connected with ALCOR)
contributes many interesting articles. This is not an ad, just a tip:
"Claustrophobia is a monthly, pro-science, pro-technology newsletter covering
scientific breakthroughs in life extension, space-industrialization, and
the related medical and technical fields."
Subscriptions: US$20/year Claustrophobia
1402 SW Upland Drive
Portland, OR 97221
(503) 227-6848
[ Roy, you have a lot of good, juicy questions here. I'll put together a
detailed reply to them within the next few days. - Kevin Q. Brown ]
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