X-Message-Number: 572 Date: 08 Dec 91 00:56:32 EST From: Steve Bridge <> Subject: Mike Darwin Correction In reply to Max More (Msg #567): Mike Darwin has indeed resigned from Alcor as a Director and as an employee. He has no immediate plans to work on cryonics, but he has not exactly "resigned from cryonics." He is keeping his Alcor Suspension membership and remains committed to the principle of cryonics. Mike is planning on taking some time off and then exploring his options. Without getting into private matters, I think it is fair to say that Mike, after being the adrenalin force for Alcor for almost 10 years, is suffering from not-unexpected burnout. Obviously, Alcor's technical capabilities and medical expertise have dropped somewhat. That means that the rest of us who want to stay alive have to pick up the pace. Alcor will have to start hiring professionals-- at higher prices-- a lot sooner than we had planned. No more counting on the cheap suffering of Jerry Leaf and Mike Darwin. This kind of change will take money and leadership. It also means more of us have to make efforts to personally attract capable medical and technical personnel to Alcor -- or become those people ourselves. As a long-time close friend of Mike (and as someone who wants Alcor to continue to be the best cryonics organization possible), I sincerely hope that someday he may find the energy and reasons to work with us again. The ideas and experience he has developed cannot be easily (if at all) replaced. But we cannot count on that. Mike does not owe us his life. In the last ten years Mike Darwin has done more for us than we have done for him. He has worked many hours a week for poverty wages and under stress that few of us could manage for even a few days. Without his efforts in the 1980's, Alcor might not even exist any longer, except as a small discussion group of less than ten people. Instead we have a large capable organization of nearly 300 full members and many more prepared to join. We have a strong set of publications that would not exist without his efforts. That building in Riverside was practically pushed into existence by Mike. Every aspect of Alcor has his mark in some way. I could go on and on. Let him have his rest. But let us not force others to burn out, too. Alcor -- as usual -- needs more money and more people, so WE can have more time. Wish him well and tell him you'll take a turn for a while. Steve Bridge Midwest Coordinator Alcor Life Extension Foundation Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=572