Herman Greenberg
Herman Greenberg (c. 1927 – legal death 1970) was the fifth person cryopreserved by the Cryonics Society of New York (CSNY).[1] Beverly Greenberg (aka Gillian Cummings) was his daughter.[2]
Cryopreservation
He was 42 years old when he legally died of a heart attack.[3] According to Beverly, his last words were: "Don't freeze me," though it appears she was not actually present at his death.[3][4] An $8,000 insurance policy covered his cryopreservation.[5] He had been embalmed and buried for a good while before Beverly contacted CSNY to have him cryopreserved.[5]
He would be held in the same capsule as Paul Hurst.[1] Beverly's unusual death inside the Cryo-Span facility in November 1973 came to the attention of the New York State Department of Health, and when they learned about the frozen bodies, they took action. In January 1974, they sent a letter that ordered Curtis Henderson to dispose of "deceased persons" at the facility within 15 days, threatening a fine of $1,000 per day for noncompliance. Herman's widow also made it clear she was not interested in continuing the suspension of her husband, so Herman was reburied.[6]
The documentary film The Icemen Cometh (1971), made by Beverly, is about her father's cryopreservation.
Sources
- ↑ 1,0 1,1 Suspension Failures: Lessons from the Early Years. R. Michael Perry. alcor.org. Retrieved February 25, 2025
- ↑ Failed Futures, Broken Promises, and the Prospect of Cybernetic Immortality: Toward an Abundant Sociological History of Cryonic Suspension, 1962–1979 (page 167 of the file). Grant W. Shoffstall
- ↑ 3,0 3,1 Tape Transcript: “Freeze-Wait-Reanimate”. Cryonics 1998 #1. Retrieved February 25, 2025 (page 18 of the file)
- ↑ Remembering Beverly Greenberg. R. Michael Perry. Cryonics 1998 #2. Retrieved February 25, 2025 (page 43 of the file)
- ↑ 5,0 5,1 Failed Futures, Broken Promises, and the Prospect of Cybernetic Immortality: Toward an Abundant Sociological History of Cryonic Suspension, 1962–1979 (page 168 of the file). Grant W. Shoffstall
- ↑ Remembering Beverly Greenberg. R. Michael Perry. Cryonics 1998 #2. Retrieved February 25, 2025 (pages 45–46 of the file)