>>>"Gerald F. Doherty" said:
> Creig & Kay Houghtaling wrote:
> >
> > Craig Shirgold is a 7 year old boy
> > who lives in Keene, NH.
Actually, Craig Shergold is English.
> DON'T SEND CARDS!
AMEN!
> This story has been going around for years now, and it just won't stop.
> The little boy with cancer never existed,
Well, he did, and he did ask for cards, but he got too many and they won't
stop. For the full story check out
http://www.heimbaugh.com/classic/craig.shergold/
Here is some info if you can't do WWW:
------------------------------
DO NOT SEND ANY {GET WELL, POST, BUSINESS} CARDS TO CRAIG SHERGOLD!
If you contact 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 publisher of the Guinness
Book of World Records (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 developed a brain tumor, believed
inoperable. He sought to set the Guinness record for get-well cards. The
effort was well-publicized around the world, and he did, indeed set the
record (consult a recent edition of the book [p. 207 of the 1992 US
edition, for instance] --- he has received in excess of 33 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 non-malignant tumor. He is also no longer seven, but
twelve (as of January 1992).
The problem is that the mimeographed sheets and letters seeking cards
for Craig have continued to be circulated. As a result, get-well 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 for people to cease
to mail 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. Many other publications have also
carried stories on this; even Ann Landers wrote about it on 6/23/91,
but people still keep sending 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 of these 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 anywhere you've seen the original
plea. If you see it in the future, as you probably will, you can attach
a copy of this announcement.
--berry
Berry Kercheval :: kerch@parc.xerox.com :: Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
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