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Comments, possibly informed.

Tim Wilson
Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
timatollah@mackandtim.net
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Williams on Ice

Ted Williams's son had his dad frozen. The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy comments here

According to one person close to the late slugger, Williams wanted to be cremated and have his ashes distributed over the Florida Keys. (The story also includes a quote from Williams's friend Johnny Pesky along the lines that Williams was an atheist, but that quote seems to have more to do with Williams's not wanting a funeral than with what Williams wanted to happen with his mortal remains.)

While it's kind of reassuring to know that even the famous and wealthy still make the same kinds of death-planning screwups -- starting with "what to do with the body" and continuing with putting ne'er-do-well children in charge of the estate -- that lots of ordinary people do, you'd think that at some point more people would realize that if you want your plans for what happens after you die to actually happen, you have to make a fair number of steps while you're still alive.

People will likely go on and on about the weirdness and possible venality of the son's choice to have his dad frozen -- Shaughnessy: "There are only two ways to think of this: Best case - The son is in denial and thinks he can bring his father back to life. Worst case - John Henry hopes to profit from prospective cloning or DNA distribution." -- but the fact remains that with a small number of steps, Ted Williams could've made it near certain that he'd've been cremated in line with his own wishes for what should happen to his body after his death.


posted by Tim Wilson at 8:42 AM