belligerently that the costs for liquid nitrogen were very high -- she knew, she dealt with it! This produced a barrage of facts from Mike about the cost per liter of liquid nitrogen (both currently, and the lower costs that larger bulk purchases would allow), the boil-off rates from various dewars, the overhead costs incurred, the amortization period of dewars (they have to be replaced periodically) and the like. This produced rather a good impression. Following the talk, we passed out 40 information packets (all we had). I examined one and was pleasantly surprised to find (mixed in with several other things) a new introduction to cryonics: Alcor Threshold To Tomorrow. (January, 1989, available from Alcor -- once they finish the second printing -- for $5.00 each. Well worth the price). It is definitely the best introduction to cryonics I have ever seen, presenting the pros, cons, current status, and future prospects with clarity and accuracy. Interestingly, though no one said so explicitly, it was fairly clear that Carrillo (the coroner of Riverside) was -- to put the matter tastefully -- not viewed with respect. It appears that Alcor unwittingly selected the most inopportune county in which to set up shop. * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------(10)
Keith Henson provided the following additional comments: During the MORTECH reception, I found myself talking to Mickey Worthington, one of the Riverside coroners. Mickey treated me like another coroner (who else would be at a coroner's convention?) and I did not disabuse him of this idea. I made the comment, "Heard you folks have been having problems." Surprisingly, Mickey said the Liberace affair had been the worst of their troubles. This would be hard to understand until you consider the flak they must have taken from Liberace's many fans for abducting his body from the Forest Lawn mortuary and returning it in a number of sacks. Also, most of his fans probably did not want to hear the facts of Liberace's illness or lifestyle. Mickey was not pleased that Mike Darwin (one of the "bad people") would be addressing the convention the following day. (Mickey had helped put cuffs on six of the people at the Alcor facility during the raid -- one of those arrested was Mike. A false arrest suit for 1.6 million dollars is now pending against the coroner and several others responsible for the raid and the arrests). Next on Mickey's list was "the headless woman" affair. Mickey felt they had so much trouble with that case because "bad people" were involved. He mentioned they had taken a day and a half to search Alcor. I asked what they had found, and Mickey mentioned stolen property from UCLA. When I asked if anyone had gone to jail, Mickey said no, that much of the "stolen property" was record-keeping errors on the part of UCLA. Mickey was none-the-less sure that the people at Alcor had done something which would land them in jail. Next day I introduced myself as an Alcor member to both Mickey and Ray (Carrillo). Ray said that it was nice to meet me "as a human being" (as opposed to a dark force that bugged them to release the Dora Kent paperwork?).