THE TREASURE CHEST
By Kenneth Bly
Bob Nelson has written a book, FROZEN HEROES about freezing the first man, Dr. James Bedford. In it he talks about the events leading up to the freezing, and the tumultuous series of events that followed. This is the introduction to that book. So far, he’s been unable to find a publisher.
The chest had remained covered and out of sight in Bob Nelson’s garage for better than twenty five years. He had no desire to open it. Within its plywood walls, lay the artifacts of a past life he had locked away, or so he thought, forever. Now, with the padlock laying open on the garage floor, and his wife, Mert, and I looking on, he opened the lid, casting fresh light on old memories.
The three of us leaned forward and looked into the dusty powder blue crate. Looking back at us were pictures, newspaper and magazine clippings, audio tapes, reels of film, and court documents. Stack after stack of court documents. This was truly a treasure chest, rich with mementos from Bob’s life as a pioneer in the early days of cryonics.
I had worked with Bob at his electronics repair center in Southern California for a little over seven years. He never really talked about his involvement with cryonics until shortly before he retired and sold the business. By then I had already quit working for him and moved on to a job that was a little friendlier to my worn out back. I continued doing online warranty claims for the shop though, and
Bob and I remained good friends.
He had received an invitation for he and his family to visit the Alcor cryonics facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, and was as excited as I had ever seen him. He told me that the first man ever frozen and placed in cryonic suspension, Dr. James Bedford, was suspended there. It was like going to visit an old friend, since Bob was the one who orchestrated that freezing. He made a small vacation out of the trip to Arizona, and brought along his wife Mert and his two young daughters. When he returned he told me that he was in awe of Alcor and what they had accomplished since he walked away from cryonics in 1981. The management treated him like royalty, and he was deeply honored. When he was shown Dr, Bedford’s capsule he embraced it. Thirty seven years had passed since he had last seen Dr. Bedford, and this was an emotional reunion.
Photo: John Bull
Bob Nelson at the Suspended Animation Conference this past May in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Bob returned from the trip inspired. He decided to write the story of his involvement during the early years of cryonics. He invited my nephew and I to breakfast at a little beach restaurant in Encinitas, a coastal town just north of San Diego, and asked me if I would help him with the book. How could I resist? His excitement was infectious. Besides, I was curious to know more about that other life of his, the one he kept buried just beneath his conscious for so long.
My mental image of cryonics was at once futuristic and sterile. I envisioned rows of stainless steel tanks awash in bright, imitation light spilling from overhead fluorescents. Serious men with serious faces would mill about in white lab coats, busily fussing over the tanks like bees tending to their queen, and manning impressive control panels. The personalities of the people involved would be as colorful and interesting as the flat white paint adorning the walls of these sub zero mausoleums. I couldn’t have been further off the mark, as I would soon learn.
I spent literally hundreds of hours pawing through the contents of the treasure chest. It was like being a kid and digging through my grandparent’s attic. I called him just about every night, often several times, and grilled him to elaborate on what I was finding. There was a letter from Peter Sellers, the manuscript from his book, We Froze the First man, letters from a producer who wanted to make a movie from that book, audio tapes of early cryonics conferences, a film of the perfusion of Genevieve De La Poterie (a little girl he froze), boxes of court documents, Cryonics Society of California member files, and pictures and slides that were absolutely fascinating. I couldn’t get enough!
Bob Nelson didn’t just orchestrate the first cryonic suspension, he lit a fire under the cryonics movement. He approached cryonics like the prizefighter he once was, and came out swinging. The movement was populated by intellectuals, scientists, cryobiologists, and doctors, but it lacked a good front man. It was like the rock band Van Halen without David Lee Roth. Bob became the David Lee Roth of cryonics. He was slick, confident, and a little cocky. He was charismatic and people naturally wanted to follow him. He brought an infectious passion and enthusiasm for cryonics that bordered on lust. He was cryonic’s first, and as far as I can tell, only rock star.
Bob’s passion for cryonics and his drive to make it a success, even when it seemed he was doomed, ended up working against him. After Bedford, there were more freezings, failures, friends lost, and a lawsuit that nearly brought the cryonics movement to its knees. The trial left him (unfairly) with a reputation as a hustler and a swindler. Some have even called him a mass murderer. Still there are others who consider him a hero and a pioneer.
The debate over where Bob stands in cryonics history is still being waged on internet discussion forums and publications. One such debate between author Charles Platt and myself is printed in this book as a good example of the polarization the name Robert Nelson evokes.
Other than an interview he did in 1991 with Dave Pizer, the former president of Alcor, and Mike Perry, a key figure in the Alcor organization and a cryonics historian, Bob has remained silent. Most of the material written about him is incomplete and colored by bias against him from people who want desperately to distance themselves from him and the trial.
In this book, for the first time, Bob Nelson reveals the extraordinary story of the events that took place during the time between the freezing of Dr. James Bedford in 1967, and the devastating trial in 1981.
This is a truly compelling story as only he can tell it, bursting at the seams with love, passion, tragedy and loss. It also offers his unique perspective on modern cryonics and his vision of the future. Robert Ettinger, the father of the cryonics movement, also contributes two wonderful chapters.
Welcome to the world of Robert Nelson. I’m sure you will enjoy the ride as much as I have!