February 1999
The Director - Features
Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow
Cryonics is no longer just the stuff of science fiction
Croynics, the practice of freezing a deceased human's remains in hopes of restoring life at a future time, is taken very seriously by members of the American Cryonics Society (ACS). Cryonicists believe post-mortem preparation, freezing and long-term cold storage is a matter of life and death. As a funeral director, do you know what you should do if you receive human remains that are scheduled to undergo cryonic treatment?
Discover how funeral directors can help clients interested in cryonics in Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow—Cryonics is no longer just the stuff of science fiction, by Jim Yount, chief operating officer of ACS. Using a question-and-answer format, this article provides an overview of cryonics, explaining the costs, the conditions of death that make cryonic suspension "hopeless" and the suspension procedure. It also explains how funeral directors can assist with cryonic cases and how they can add cryonic suspension to their services.
Yount has been on ACS's board of governors for more than 20 years and served as its president in 1994-96. Previously, Yount established Long Life Insurance Agency and helped pioneer the use of life insurance to fund cryonic suspension. Yount is also associate editor of The Immortalist magazine, a cryonics publication.
