X-Message-Number: 1858
Date: 01 Mar 93 20:20:56 EST
From: Paul Wakfer <>
Subject: CRYONICS Clarissa Wells

From: Mike Darwin
To: All
Re: Clarissa Wells
Date: 1 March, 1993

     This afternoon I received a call from Michael Riskin inquiring as to 
how he might post a personal (for my eyes only) message to me.  Michael 
made this inquiry because I share Paul Wakfer's CompuServe account to keep 
costs down.  After a bit of further conversation it turned out that what 
Michael wanted to post was an inquiry/speculation that I am Clarissa 
Wells.  After a good hearty laugh I informed Michael that I am not.  Since 
Michael's call I have received two other inquiries, or more properly one 
inquiry and one "nasty accusation" or more precisely, one accusation made 
nastily.  One caller even asserted that since I am a homosexual it follows 
that I would choose a female nom de plume.

     Gentlemen, I *wish* Clarissa Wells was a pseudonym for Mike Darwin.  
More to the point, I have the happy feeling that each and every one of you 
may come to wish that you were so lucky, and that you were indeed dealing 
with a known quantity of which, even more to the point, there was only 
one. (Just think about it!  There MAY ACTUALLY BE TWO OF US NOW!!!!!!!)

     But I demean Ms. Wells here.  I am not Clarissa Wells, but that 
doesn't mean that I don't wish I had her intellect and poise.  I am deeply 
flattered that these have been attributed to me.  However, I would point 
out that Ms. Wells is my better in a number of ways.  Ways which it 
behooves me to pay attention to.  First, as Paul Wakfer pointed out to me, 
Ms. Wells has so neatly dissected Pizer, Henson, et al., without emotion 
and without the (typically) vicious Mike Darwin edge.  This has worked 
powerfully to her advantage and I believe it has added greatly to her 
credibility.  I could profit greatly from her restraint and her focus on 
rational argument.

     Second, I must confess that I did not catch the obvious 
contradictions in Keith's posting about member exclusions.  That is the 
product of a top-notch mind.  However, in fairness to Carlos, Keith, and 
the others who have called-in or written about their suspicions that 
Clarissa Wells is a "fake persona" I must say that I can understand why 
you feel that way. Ms. Wells has a grasp of the personal dynamics and 
personalities operating inside cryonics which is phenomenal; the kind of 
thing that normally only comes after knowing people for years.  Just look 
at her recent posting re: Steve Jackson and Keith Henson.  Right on the 
money, at least as a reasonable *and informed* guess.

     In short, I would not be surprised to discover that Clarissa Wells is 
really someone else.  However, I would not be at all surprised to find out 
that she is the real McCoy.  And it is that latter possibility with which 
I am most intrigued, because it is most assuredly not Ms. Wells' body in 
which I am interested, it is her MIND.  And that interest is in 
facilitating the entry of that mind into this community at almost any 
cost.

--Mike Darwin

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