From: Jay.Ashworth@f160.n3603.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jay Ashworth)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Craig Shergold
Date: Sun, 05 Apr 92 14:19:00 EDT
Organization: FidoNet node 1:3603/160 - Hacker's Haven, Clearwater FL

Larry Margolis writes:
 > In  <1992Apr4.022249.5844@casbah.acns.nwu.edu>
 > drmax@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Marianna Max) writes:
 >>      Craig Shergold is seven years old and suffering from terminal
 >> cancer. It is one of his wishes to be included in the Guiness Book of
 >> Records with the largest number of business cards ever collected ...
 > First of all, it was postcards, not business cards; second of all, Craig has
 > been dead for years.  This keeps popping up, though.  See alt.folklore.urban
 > (which is where I've redirected followups to).

and Spaf writes:
 >By: Gene Spafford
 >To: All
 >Re: DO NOT SENT ANY {GET WELL, POST, BUSINESS} CARDS TO CRAIG SHERGOLD!
 >
 >From: spaf@cs.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford)
 >Date: 17 Feb 92 19:43:21 GMT
 >Organization: SERC, Department of Computer Sciences, Purdue Univ.
 >Message-ID: <199202141505.AA28623@uther.cs.purdue.edu>
 >Newsgroups: news.announce.important
 >
 >If you call the ``Children's Make a Wish'' foundation, you will find
 >that they are not soliciting any form of card for Craig Shergold or
 >anyone else.  Better yet, if you call the Guinness people (US
 >publisher is "Facts on File" @ 212-683--2244 ext. 336), you can get
 >this same story confirmed.  You will also find that they will no
 >longer endorse or support any effort to break this record.
 >
 >Many years ago, Craig Shergold had a brain tumor, believed inoperable.
 >He sought to set the Guinness record for get-well cards.  The call was
 >well-publicized, and he did, indeed set the record (consult a recent
 >edition of the book --- he has received in excess of 16 million cards
 >to date; he officially set the record as of 17 Nov 1989).
 >.
 >As part of this whole story, his plight caught the attention of John
 >Kluge, the US billionaire, who paid for Craig to come to the US and
 >receive specialized treatment.  As a result, Craig has recovered
 >completely from his tumor.  He is also no longer seven, but well into
 >his teens (you can see how out-of-date the request for cards is from
 >this -- it's like circulating a letter encouraging people to vote for
 >Carter for President).
 >
 >The problem is that the mimeographed sheets and letters seeking cards
 >for Craig have continued to be circulated.  As a result, cards
 >continue to pour in to the post office for Royal Marsden Hospital in
 >England.  Worse, the appeal has mutated into various other versions,
 >such as an appeal for business cards, one for postcards, and another
 >version that appeals for holiday cards.
 >
 >The Shergold family has publicly appealed many times that people cease
 >to mail them cards and letters, and that no more appeals be made on
 >their behalf. One easily accessible way to verify this is with the
 >article on page 24 of the 19 July 1990 NY Times.  People Magazine wrote
 >an article about it on June 1, 1991, page 63.  Even Ann Landers has
 >carried an item on this [6/23/91], but people still keep trying to send
 >cards.  Both Guinness and Royal Marsden have repeatedly issued press
 >releases asking people to stop circulating requests for cards, as they
 >are creating an undue burden on both the hospital and the postal service.
 >
 >The Guinness people have discontinued the category to prevent this
 >kind of thing from ever happening again, and are doing their utmost to
 >kill any further mailings.  The Royal Marsden Hospital is at a loss
 >what to do with the cards that continue to arrive --- most are being
 >sold to stamp collectors and paper recyclers, and none go on to Craig.
 >
 >This appeal for Craig, as well as many urban legends, regularly appear
 >on electronic bulletin boards around the world, and in many
 >organizational newsletters and bulletins.  It is both heartening and
 >unfortunate that there are so many well-meaning people who continue to
 >propagate these stories.  It is too bad that so many people are
 >unwilling to verify their information before passing such things
 >along, especially when a simple phone call will suffice to do so.  In
 >this case, opening a recent copy of a book carried by nearly every
 >library and bookstore would illuminate the situation.
 >
 >If you would still like to do something for a dying child, consider
 >making a donation to a charity such as UNICEF or to the International
 >Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Magen David).  Many thousands of children
 >are dying daily around the world from disease and starvation, and
 >countless millions more are suffering from the ravages of war, famine,
 >disease, and natural disaster.  Think how many of them might be helped
 >by the millions of dollars in postage spent on cards to Craig
 >Shergold....   Addresses (in US) are:
 >
 >        UNICEF               American National Red Cross
 >        1 UN Plaza           17th & D Streets
 >        New York, NY 10017   Washington, DC 20006
 >                             Attn: international children's aid
 >
 >[Also, I encourage you to save this announcement, in either electronic
 >or hard copy form, and to post it to any bulletin board you've seen the
 >original plea on.  If you see it in the future, as you probably will,
 >you can attach a copy of this announcement.  Wouldn't it be great to
 >finally kill this story, which spreads like a virus? - MRH]
 >
 >--
 >Professor Gene Spafford
 >Dept. of Computer Sciences
 >Purdue University
 >W. Lafayette IN 47907-1398
 >spaf@cs.purdue.edu

Two notes:  John Kluge _really is_ a billionaire; I was surprised to find the name in Fortune magazines list because of the spelling.  And MRH is Mark Horton at Stargate, the moderator of news.annouce.important.

Cheers,
-- jra

--  
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