[OT] Futurist FM-2030 is stored in liquid nitrogen after death at 69

WIRE:07/11/2000 07:41:00 ET
		 Futurist FM-2030 is stored in liquid nitrogen after
death at 69

			      NEW YORK (AP) _ A futurist who
			     changed his given name to	FM-2030,
			     lectured about people made wholly from
			     synthetic parts and  arranged to have his
			     body frozen with the hope of being
			     revived in  the future, has died at age 69.

			     His body was flown to Arizona for
		 storage in a vat of liquid  nitrogen. It will be
thawed,
		 according to FM-2030"s plan, when  doctors have a cure
		 for pancreatic cancer, which was the cause of	his
death
		 Saturday.

		 FM-2030, a teacher, author and corporate consultant
		 who lived in  Miami, was launched _ his word for born _

		 in 1930. He legally  changed his name from F.M.
		 Esfandiary in the mid-1970s.

		 He imagined a future of limitless energy and human
		 immortality.  In 1977, he spoke about the correction of

		 genetic flaws and  fertilization and gestation outside
the
		 body. In 1980, he wrote  about teleconferencing,
		 telemedicine and teleshopping.

		 "I am a 21st-century person who was accidentally born
		 into the  20th," he once said.

		 He was launched in Belgium to an Iranian diplomat and
		 lived in  17 countries by the time he was 11, fostering
his
		 belief that he  was a global citizen.

		 His books about the future include "Optimism One,"
		  "Telespheres" and "Are You Transhuman?" He was
		 revising his  "Countdown to Immortality" when he became

		 sick.

		 His body is in a thermos tank at the Alcor Life
Extension
		  Foundation in Scottsdale, Ariz. The foundation, in a
news
		 release,  said no frozen mammal has been successfully
		 thawed.

		 Copyright ©2000 ABC News Internet Ventures.

--
Michael Sarno

To see a World in a grain of sand,
And a Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.
 -William Blake