[ExI] Robert Bradbury update

[David Lubkin]

I got email this morning from David Kekich, who'd been in touch with 
one of Robert's brothers, and then a return phone call from another 
of them. (There are three; I'd misspoke.) I had a long conversation 
with his brother, who left it to me to gel down.

Robert did indeed die on Sunday, at his parents' winter home in 
Florida. Of a brain aneurysm. He basically fell, and died. There was 
a coroner's report; blood work is coming. There are clues developing 
to what led to it. Tragically, his 86 year old father found him.

He will be cremated. We did discuss cryonics. His brother was aware 
of his prior interest, knew it had waned, and did not know of 
suspension arrangements.

There will be a memorial service in the Boston area some time after 
winter. Robert was down there helping look after his mom, who has not 
been well. The date of the service will depend on when she's up for 
the trip. They welcome the attendance of his friends, so we should 
have enough notice for people who want to fly in or drive up.

I'll orchestrate an extropian gathering in conjunction with this, 
before or after the service with his family.

He hadn't known of Robert's involvement with Kurzweil or Amara's 
planned obituary. He was pleased.

Speaking on behalf of his family, he authorized the use of any of the 
photos Robert had on the web for obituaries, tributes, etc. That 
would include photos from his web site and his profiles on Orkut, 
LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.

No papers or files will be destroyed. He supports our desire to 
preserve Robert's work indefinitely.

There's a practical way we may be able to be of help. All Robert's 
stuff is on a UNIX box, and they haven't been able to figure out the 
password. Presumably we and our friends can find a way in if anyone 
can. I offered we could try; they'll ask if it's down to that. (For 
that matter, I offered that if there was any way at all we could help 
them, they should ask.)

I'll aggregate and pass along anything you want to share with the 
family, electronic or physical. Put "Bradbury" in the subject line. 
If you want to mail me something, email me for the address.


-- David.