X-Message-Number: 9811
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 19:20:57 -0700 (MST)
From:  (Dave & Trudy Pizer)
Subject: pizer - goldwater and the near miss

Barry Goldwater died today.  That was on the news.  Born in Arizona on New
year's day in 1909, he was known as "Mr. Conservative."  I think he was a
Libertarian, and did not know it.

I first met Senator Goldwater in person about a decade ago when I was taking
a political science course at Arizona State University and he was the guest
speaker to our class.  After class was over, several younger (all the other
students were younger than me) ran over to him and engaged him in
discussion.  I did not want to barge in, so I quietly slipped Alcor's book
"Cryonics, Threshold to the Future" into his hand and started walking
towards the door.  Just as my hand hit the doorknob, the Senator called out
to me "Hey!  Hey you.  This is (he was refering to cryonics) the wave of the
future."

I turned  "Would like to meet and discuss this further?"

He seemed to not hear me and went on telling me about cryonics "This really
is the future.  You ought to look into it."

The young students started talking again as I replied "So should you.  Would
you like to meet?"

He seemed not to hear me and just smiled.  (Now that I getting a little
deaf, I find myself also doing that a lot, so people won't think I'm an
idiot when I can't hear them.  They get tired or hearing me say :huh?")

Needless to say, sadly nothing ever came of it.  He knew about it.  He
thought well of it, but he did not sign up.

A loss to the world and himself.  Never to be recovered.

He also left (about?) 200 million dollars it is reported.  Imagine what
might have been if he had invested that money in cryonics research a decade
ago and signed up????????????

He was a nice man.  One of the few honest politicians.

Even though the rest of us are signed up, we are not investing enough in
cryonics research and advancing the technology.  Maybe we are not as smart
as we could be, either?

Dave  Pizer

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