biomedical gerontology, self-publishing the book "A Guide to Anti-aging Drugs" in 1994. Despite this interest, he was pessimistic about near-term prospects for extension of human lifespan. In 1986 he stated that only small children might live long enough to see advances allowing them to avoid the need for cryonics. In late 2005, he wrote in Cryonics magazine, "We aim, by cryopreservation, to reach a time when aging can be reversed and abolished. Cryopreservation may well turn out to be the only way that anyone (now living) has any chance of doing that." Brain tumor In 1988, Donaldson was diagnosed with grade II astrocytoma, a type of malignant brain tumor. Despite radiation therapy, his long-term prognosis was poor. In 1990 he received international attention when he unsuccessfully sued the Attorney General of the State of California for the right to an elective cryopreservation to prevent the tumor from destroying his brain. An episode of the television drama L.A. Law was based on his story. Although he was criticized for wanting to sacrifice life today for uncertain life in the future, the intent of his lawsuit was to obtain the right to cryopreservation should his tumor begin regrowing, not a desire for immediate cryopreservation. In early 2006, his friend Steve Bridge posted a message to the Cryonet email list indicating that Donaldson’s cancer had returned, and that he was returning from Australia to the United States in serious condition. He is cryopreserved at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation; his biography matches the description of patient A-1097, described in the Spring 2006 issue Cryonics Magazine, who received an unusually smooth cryopreservation on January 19, 2006. References External links A Brief Scientific Introduction to Cryonics 24th Century Medicine Prospects of a Cure for "Death" The Thomas Donaldson Case http://online.ceb.com/calcases/CA4/2CA4t1614.htm Interview - Thomas Donaldson About Thomas Donaldson 1944 births 2006 deaths Cryonically preserved people Cryonicists People from Sunnyvale, California