rick@homxc.UUCP (R.BUTTAFOGO) (12/15/88)
There is a young boy by the name of David at the Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital who is terminally ill. His last wish is to be in the Guiness Book of World Records for having received the MOST Christmas cards EVER. Therefore, they have started a campaign to honor his last wish, and rather simple, request. If anyone would like to take the time to send David a Christmas card, please mail it to: David A Child's Last Wish PO BOX 5997 Spring Hill, FLA 34606
gfv@homxc.UUCP (G.VALVO) (12/15/88)
> > There is a young boy by the name of David at the Sloan Kettering Cancer > Hospital who is terminally ill. His last wish is to be in the Guiness > Book of World Records for having received the MOST Christmas cards EVER. [... stuff deleted ...] Has anyone EVER had FIRST HAND verification of one of these stories? Greg
msmith@topaz.rutgers.edu (Mark Robert Smith) (12/15/88)
There was recently information posted to misc.misc or misc.consumers
(I can't remember which) which explains that David is in England, and
has already received enough postcards to make the record book, which
will now forever close that category.
Mark
--
Mark Smith (alias Smitty) "Be careful when looking into the distance,
RPO 1604; P.O. Box 5063 that you do not miss what is right under your nose."
New Brunswick, NJ 08903-5063 {backbone}!rutgers!topaz.rutgers.edu!msmith
msmith@topaz.rutgers.edu R.I.P. Individual Freedoms - 11/8/88chuq%plaid@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (12/15/88)
>There is a young boy by the name of David at the Sloan Kettering Cancer >Hospital who is terminally ill. His last wish is to be in the Guiness >Book of World Records for having received the MOST Christmas cards EVER. >Therefore, they have started a campaign to honor his last wish, and rather >simple, request. If anyone would like to take the time to send David a >Christmas card, please mail it to: > >David >A Child's Last Wish >PO BOX 5997 >Spring Hill, FLA 34606 NO!!!!!!! We just went through this whole shebang on CompuServe. This David DOES exist, unlike all the previous Davids. However, he's already received something like 3 million cards, and the Last Wish folks are now actively asking people to NOT SEND ANY MORE CARDS. This was confirmed by multiple contacts from folks in the CompuServe Sci-Fi sig. So let this one die. Please. A couple of other comments. The kid's real name is Mario, according to Last Wish. They used a fake name to protect his identity -- and coincidentally ran into the Scotland David of postcard hoaxes. And according to last wish, his cancer is also currently in remission. Chuq Von Rospach Editor/Publisher, OtherRealms chuq@sun.COM When you're up to your *ss in alligators, it's hard to remember your initial objective was to drain the swamp.
jvd@houxs.UUCP (J.VANDYK) (12/15/88)
> There is a young boy by the name of David at the Sloan Kettering Cancer > Hospital who is terminally ill. His last wish is to be in the Guiness [remainder of message deleted] An announcement was made on the radio this morning concerning the story about this young boy named David. The name David was an alias, and his cancer is in remission. The Spring Hill post office in Florida is receiving over 50,000 letters on a daily basis. The postmaster has requested numerous times for people to stop sending mail to this person. "David" will appear in the Guiness Book of World Records due to the amount of mail that he has received.
kevin@xilinx.UUCP (Kevin Kelleher) (12/16/88)
> > There is a young boy by the name of David at the Sloan Kettering Cancer > Hospital who is terminally ill. His last wish is to be in the Guiness > Book of World Records for having received the MOST Christmas cards EVER. [... stuff deleted ...] According to a call to the local "Make a wish" foundation this is a hoax. He may be trying for a record, but as far as they know he is not ill.
pearl@porthos.rutgers.edu (Starbuck) (12/16/88)
In article <81765@sun.uucp> chuq@sun.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) writes: >>There is a young boy by the name of David at the Sloan Kettering Cancer >>Hospital who is terminally ill. His last wish is to be in the Guiness >NO!!!!!!! We just went through this whole shebang on CompuServe. This David >DOES exist, unlike all the previous Davids. However, he's already received >something like 3 million cards, and the Last Wish folks are now actively >asking people to NOT SEND ANY MORE CARDS. This was confirmed by multiple >contacts from folks in the CompuServe Sci-Fi sig. > >So let this one die. Please. This was *very* poorly worded. Steve Stephen Pearl (Starbuck) Work: (201)932-2443 Home: (201)246-3927 UUCP: rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!pearl ARPA: pearl@aramis.rutgers.edu US MAIL: LPO 12749 CN 5064, New Brunswick, NJ 08903 QUOTES: "What is Starbuck-ing?" -Adultress 19 "Works for me!" -Rick Hunter (The Cop, not the Robotech Defender)
roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) (12/16/88)
In article <4592@homxc.UUCP> rick@homxc.UUCP (R.BUTTAFOGO) writes: > There is a young boy by the name of David at the Sloan Kettering Cancer > Hospital who is terminally ill. This pops up periodically. I have no idea how it got started, but it's a hoax. There is no David, there is no record for the most card recieved, and all you will do by sending in a card is waste some of your time, a stamp, and swamp some poor post-office. Last time, David was dying in a hospital in Scotland (or was it England?) I even saw this one posted in the elevator where I work! -- Roy Smith, System Administrator Public Health Research Institute {allegra,philabs,cmcl2,rutgers}!phri!roy -or- phri!roy@uunet.uu.net "The connector is the network"
gls@odyssey.ATT.COM (g.l.sicherman) (12/16/88)
msmith@topaz.rutgers.edu (Mark Robert Smith) writes: > There was recently information posted to misc.misc or misc.consumers > (I can't remember which) which explains that David is in England, and > has already received enough postcards to make the record book, which > will now forever close that category. Today's Asbury Park _Press_ has a wire story on this. "... The problem is he doesn't really exist, and those who know the details of the mis- guided effort are pleading for an end to the postcard frenzy." I hope that this will teach Rick not to post irresponsible rumors to the Net. They can do a lot of damage! Moreover, even when you have something worth saying, it's nearly always a public nuisance to cross-post to seven different groups. -- Col. G. L. Sicherman gls@odyssey.att.COM
bhh@shuxd.UUCP (Brad Hansen) (12/16/88)
In article <4592@homxc.UUCP> rick@homxc.UUCP (R.BUTTAFOGO) writes: >There is a young boy by the name of David at the Sloan Kettering Cancer >Hospital who is terminally ill. His last wish is to be in the Guiness >Book of World Records for having received the MOST Christmas cards EVER. Frances Keefe, founder of "Child's Wish Come True" in Spring Hill, Florida, who started the campaign has asked everyone to _please_ STOP. "David", really Mario Morby of Steely, England, has already received enough cards to make the 1989 Guinness Book of Records. Keefe's house has been filled up with mail for "David" and 50,000 more pieces arrive every day. You might also be interested to know that Mario's cancer is currently in remission. -- Brad Hansen bhh@shuxd.att.com AT&T Corp. Hq. Human Resources att!shuxd!bhh 1 Speedwell Ave. 88E 209O bhh%shuxd@att.arpa Morristown, NJ 07960
hermit@shockeye.UUCP (Mark Buda) (12/17/88)
In article <4592@homxc.uucp> some dude writes: >>There is a young boy by the name of David at the Sloan Kettering Cancer >>Hospital who is terminally ill. His last wish is to be in the Guiness >>Book of World Records for having received the MOST Christmas cards EVER. >>Therefore, they have started a campaign to honor his last wish, and rather >>simple, request. If anyone would like to take the time to send David a >>Christmas card, please mail it to: Ahem. I am sick of this. So, if anybody else out there is sick of this too, please save the following and email it to anybody who continues to propagate this myth. ------------- cut here ----------------- From the Lancaster New Era, Lancaster PA, Thursday, December 15, 1988 Reproduced without permission All spelling mistakes are because I can't type, not because I can't spell. NO DAVID Countians Help to Send 300,000 Cards, Gifts To Dying Florida Boy - But He Doesn't Exist -------------------- By Cindy Stauffer New Era Staff Writer -------------------- It seemed like such a nice idea: send Christmas cards to David, an 8-year-old terminally ill boy in Florida who is trying to get into the Guinness World Book of Records before he dies. The campaign started in Florida and soon spread throughout the country. And what started as a nice idea began taking on monstrous proportions. More than 100,000 pieces of mail and hundreds of packages for David have poured into a Florida post office each day this week - 300,000 cards in the last three days alone. Here in Lancaster County, people's hearts went out to David. Local churches put pleas into their bulletins for mail. Disc jockeys read David's post office address on the air. Volunteers canvassed local businesses for free cards. Trucking company employees put notices on bulletin boards. But this week, the people in Florida who began the campaign asked it to stop. It turns out that there is no David. And there is no 8-year-old boy in Florida who wanted to receive the most Christmas cards ever. The true story is that Mario Morby, of Streetly England, a 12-year-old boy with cancer, wanted to make the Guinness World Book of Records for receiving the most postcards. This summer, Frances Keefe, founder of Florida Child's Wish Come True in Spring Hill, Fla., decided to help Mario. She says the Morbys asked that the name "David" be used to protect their son's privacy. The Morbys denied that this week. At any rate, Mario, who is in remission from cancer now, made the Guinness book earlier this year. His name is listed in the 1989 Guinness book for hacing a collection of 1,000,265 postcards. In July, the Morbys directed the postal service to deliver the cards addressed to their son to an English auction house, where stamp collectors and others can buy them. Money from the sales is being donated to the Birmingham Children's Hospital in England, where Mario received his chemotherapy. Meanwhile, here in the United States, the number of postcards addressed to "David" had trickled off by this fall. Then, as the holidays approached, Christmas cards began to arrive in droves, said Mrs. Keefe. "We don't know why," she said from her home in Florida this morning, where she fielded a steady stream of calls from reporters all over the nation. For the past several weeks, Mrs. Keefe has been giving the cards and gifts she has received for "David" to children of migrant workers and to children's hospitals, she said. "We really are trying to do our part," she said. "So many people responded in such a beautiful way. We don't want people to think we are taking the stuff to the dump." But local people reacted with dismay to the recent revelations about "David." "Oh my gosh," said Carolyn Frantz, a local businesswoman who had participated in the card campaign. "I feel terrible. I really thought we were doing something just great... I cried for three days about it. I was just so thrilled that everyone responded like they did." Miss Frantz, who works for Chrysler First consumer discount company, had first heard about "David" via a computer bulletin board message that went out to Chrysler First offices in 42 states. One of the first things she did was call the post office in Spring Hill, Fla., last week, to verify that it was receiving mail for "David." A supervisor there confirmed that mail was being picked up every day for the little boy. Then Miss Frantz asked her neighbors, friends, and co-workers to participate in the campaign. She got donations of more than 200 cards from local businesses and gave them to school children to send to "David." Although she was distraught that the campaign was not quite what she had thought, she said she was glad to hear that some of Mario's mail was being auctioned to benefit a children's hospital. Sacred Heart Parish School in the city and Highland Elementary School in Ephrata were two of the schools that participated in the card campaign. Between the two schools, almost 1,000 cards were sent to "David." Sister M. Seraphine, the principal at Savred Heart, said this morning, "I feel that the children have been let down a little bit. You try to give them a good example at the holidays and this turns them off a little." She added she hoped this experience wouldn't discourage the children from helping others in the future. Dan Felix, the principal at Highland, said he was not sorry his students participated. "It was done as a caring thing," he said. "It was a nice thing the kids did. It was the act of caring that was important." Even the employees at the Spring Hill, Fla., post office who are being buried under "an avalanche" of mail for "David" don't feel bad about the campaign. Patti Ferris, a mail carrier, said today the thousands of cards and "bins full" of packages are being kept out on a loading dock at the post office because there is no room for them inside. Mail for "David" now makes up 40 percent of the total mail at the post office, she added. "Personally, it's touched my heart to see so much come in for the boy," she said. "It kind of puts your faith back into the human spirit. "I don't see where the story has gotten out of hand - I mean the story behind the cards. People are genuinely sending these letters because they care. They wanted him to have that record." The problem, Mrs. Ferris said, is that it has taken so long for the message to get out to people to stop sending cards. Mrs. Keefe, the woman behind the campaign, added, "We hope everyone knows that their work has not gone in vain." ---------------- cut here --------------- -- Mark Buda / Smart UUCP: hermit@shockeye.uucp / Phone(work):(717)299-5189 Dumb UUCP: ...rutgers!bpa!vu-vlsi!devon!shockeye!hermit I hate this $%$@%!$@%!@$%@#$@!% machine. "A little suction does wonders." - Gary Collins
fyl@fylz.UUCP (Phil Hughes) (12/17/88)
In article <4592@homxc.UUCP>, rick@homxc.UUCP (R.BUTTAFOGO) writes: > There is a young boy by the name of David at the Sloan Kettering Cancer > Hospital who is terminally ill. His last wish is to be in the Guiness > ... What I don't understand is why the person in this particular hoax is always named David. The address moves from California to England and all points in between and the illness even changes some times but it is always a boy named David. Is there something special about the name David that makes it fit a hoax better than John or Sue? -- Phil Hughes -- FYL -- 8315 Lk City Wy NE -- Suite 207 -- Seattle, WA 98115 {uw-beaver!tikal,uunet!pilchuck}!ssc!fylz!fyl
fyl@fylz.UUCP (Phil Hughes) (12/17/88)
I have heard that the Post Office only makes money on First Class Mail.
I'll bet that they start this hoax to increase mail volume.
--
Phil Hughes -- FYL -- 8315 Lk City Wy NE -- Suite 207 -- Seattle, WA 98115
{uw-beaver!tikal,uunet!pilchuck}!ssc!fylz!fyllmg@hoqax.UUCP (LARRY GEARY) (12/18/88)
In article <4592@homxc.UUCP> rick@homxc.UUCP (R.BUTTAFOGO) writes: >There is a young boy by the name of David at the Sloan Kettering Cancer >Hospital who is terminally ill. His last wish is to be in the Guiness THIS IS A HOAX. DO NOT SEND CARDS. NO NOT REPOST OR DISTRIBUTE THE MESSAGE. SEE news.announce.important FOR DETAILS. -- lmg@hoqax.att.com Think globally ... Post locally att!hoqax!lmg
trainor@julia.math.ucla.edu (Douglas J. Trainor) (12/18/88)
In article <621@xilinx.UUCP> kevin@xilinx.UUCP (Kevin Kelleher) writes:
According to a call to the local "Make a wish" foundation this
is a hoax. He may be trying for a record, but as far as they
know he is not ill.
This "foundation" was exposed recently on the American television show
"60 Minutes". They showed how the whole thing was a scam. Call CBS in
New York ( 212-975-4321 ) and ask to talk to someone from "60 Minutes"
and then ask how you can get a transcript.
douglascampbell@redsox.UUCP (Larry Campbell) (12/18/88)
In article <127@fylz.UUCP> fyl@fylz.UUCP (Phil Hughes) writes: }I have heard that the Post Office only makes money on First Class Mail. }I'll bet that they start this hoax to increase mail volume. Actually, I don't think that's true. They make a profit on junk mail (fourth class) and lose money on first class. The price they charge per piece of fourth class mail is lower, but fourth class mail is delivered to the originating post office in nice, neat, zip-sorted bundles, with legible addresses and zip codes (they instantly bounce any pieces missing zip codes). Fourth class mail costs a lot less per piece to handle than random loose envelopes addressed, without zip code, in YOUR handwriting. -- Larry Campbell The Boston Software Works, Inc. campbell@bsw.com 120 Fulton Street wjh12!redsox!campbell Boston, MA 02146
winter@Apple.COM (Patty Winter) (12/19/88)
In article<280@sunset.MATH.UCLA.EDU> trainor@math.ucla.edu (Douglas J. Trainor) writes: >In article <621@xilinx.UUCP> kevin@xilinx.UUCP (Kevin Kelleher) writes: > According to a call to the local "Make a wish" foundation this > is a hoax. He may be trying for a record, but as far as they > know he is not ill. > >This "foundation" was exposed recently on the American television show >"60 Minutes". They showed how the whole thing was a scam. Call CBS in >New York ( 212-975-4321 ) and ask to talk to someone from "60 Minutes" >and then ask how you can get a transcript. Point of clarification: it was *not* Make-A-Wish that the TV show tore apart--it was a soundalike organization. Make-A-Wish is a legitimate group founded nine years ago in Phoenix. Unfortunately, their good efforts have inspired a flock of groups with similar-sounding names, some perhaps legitimate, some definitely not. Kevin is correct: Make-A-Wish was *not* involved in this "David" project. I don't know how M-A-W's name got added to the address of that lady in Florida; as we now know from the newspaper article someone posted, she's with the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Perhaps M-A-W is now so well known that people assume they're behind any project involving a dying child's wish. Incidentally, it was "20/20" that did the recent expose' on a scam to collect money for children's "last wishes." Perhaps "60 Minutes" has done a similar story at some time in the past, but I'm not aware of it. Patty ============================================================================= Patty Winter N6BIS DOMAIN: winter@apple.com AMPR.ORG: [44.4.0.44] UUCP: {decwrl,nsc,sun}!apple!winter =============================================================================
gcf@actnyc.UUCP (Gordon Fitch) (12/19/88)
The more information that comes out about this, the more interesting it becomes. Evidently there are several layers of deception, self- and otherwise; it would probably take a full-time private detective to get to the bottom of it. Since the factual basis of both the original story and the debunkings of it are so hazy, I think we must assume that we are in the presence of a myth in the making. I wish the latest original poster, R. Buttafogo, would answer my query as to his or her motivations, because we might see something of the process by which this sort of thing comes about. But then, there's the possibility that R. Buttafogo doesn't exist or someone else was using the ID pseudonomously. It's evident that there's a great need out there to believe in this "David" so that cards can be collected and little projects run off in his name. Yet in just about every community where this is taking place, there are real, live sick children who not only could receive cards but benefit from other, less remote forms of attention. Why is unreal "David" so much more attractive than these real persons? Is it _because_of_ his unreality and remoteness?
dwight@tsdiag.UUCP (12/19/88)
In article <3635@phri.UUCP>, roy@phri.UUCP writes: > In article <4592@homxc.UUCP> rick@homxc.UUCP (R.BUTTAFOGO) writes: > > There is a young boy by the name of David at the Sloan Kettering Cancer > This pops up periodically. I have no idea how it got started, but > it's a hoax. There is no David, there is no record for the most card > -- > Roy Smith, System Administrator Does anyone ever check these things before passing them along? My 6 year old son came home from school last friday with a piece of paper passed out by his teacher which told 'Davids' sad tail. Schools were also the ones warning of the non existant 'Blue Star Tatoo'. -- D. Sledge, N2BSQ, Concurrent Computer Corp. 2 Crescent PL. Oceanport, NJ 07757 UUCP: ucbvax!rutgers!petsd!tsdiag!dwight PH# 201-870-4113 UUCP: uunet!masscomp!petsd!tsdiag!dwight FAX# 201-870-4249
trdill@ihlpf.ATT.COM (Diller) (12/20/88)
In article <280@sunset.MATH.UCLA.EDU>, trainor@julia.math.ucla.edu (Douglas J. Trainor) writes: > In article <621@xilinx.UUCP> kevin@xilinx.UUCP (Kevin Kelleher) writes: > > According to a call to the local "Make a wish" foundation this > is a hoax. He may be trying for a record, but as far as they > know he is not ill. > > This "foundation" was exposed recently on the American television show > "60 Minutes". They showed how the whole thing was a scam. Call CBS in > New York ( 212-975-4321 ) and ask to talk to someone from "60 Minutes" > and then ask how you can get a transcript. > > douglas The local paper the other day ran a story about "david". Basically the story goes "David was a lad over in England whose wish was to get into the Guiness book for getting the most postcards" This was accomplished. David was not the kids real name either according to the paper. "Davids cancer is now in remission and he no longer needs or wants the cards. A woman in florida was trying to help ( Fla. Wish or something) and that`s how she came into the picture. Note: I heard that Guiness is no longer accepting entries in this category.
cosell@bbn.com (Bernie Cosell) (12/20/88)
In article <259@tsdiag.ccur.com> dwight@tsdiag.UUCP writes: }In article <3635@phri.UUCP>, roy@phri.UUCP writes: }> In article <4592@homxc.UUCP> rick@homxc.UUCP (R.BUTTAFOGO) writes: }> > There is a young boy by the name of David at the Sloan Kettering Cancer }> This pops up periodically. I have no idea how it got started, but }> it's a hoax. There is no David, there is no record for the most card }> -- }> Roy Smith, System Administrator } }Does anyone ever check these things before passing them along? My 6 year old }son came home from school last friday with a piece of paper passed out by }his teacher which told 'Davids' sad tail. Schools were also the ones }warning of the non existant 'Blue Star Tatoo'. } Seems like something you should ask your school's principal, if not your town's school board. Maybe someone to whom this really happened (you?) really SHOULD go and complain backup through channels and find out what the scoop is. __ / ) Bernie Cosell /--< _ __ __ o _ BBN Sys & Tech, Cambridge, MA 02238 /___/_(<_/ (_/) )_(_(<_ cosell@bbn.com
bph@buengc.BU.EDU (Blair P. Houghton) (12/21/88)
In article <259@tsdiag.ccur.com> dwight@tsdiag.UUCP writes: >In article <3635@phri.UUCP>, roy@phri.UUCP writes: >> In article <4592@homxc.UUCP> rick@homxc.UUCP (R.BUTTAFOGO) writes: Just what does "buttafogo" mean, anyway? >Does anyone ever check these things before passing them along? My 6 year old >son came home from school last friday with a piece of paper passed out by >his teacher which told 'Davids' sad tail. Schools were also the ones >warning of the non existant 'Blue Star Tatoo'. They also tend to teach that Ben Franklin discovered electricity. --Blair "...and that 1+1=2, but that's neither here nor there..."
brucer@drutx.ATT.COM (Bruce W. Robinson) (12/21/88)
In article <1099@actnyc.UUCP>, gcf@actnyc.UUCP (Gordon Fitch) writes: > > [ stuff about self-deception ] > > ..... I wish the latest original poster, R. Buttafogo, > would answer my query as to his or her motivations, etc..... > > [ more stuff about self-deception ] > Reference the name R. Buttafogo, a thought: There is a beach about ten miles south of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil named Botafogo, and a street in Ipanema named Rua Botafogo; interesting psuedonym??? Given the psychology of a believable idea, I doubt if it's possible to stop this stupidity once it gets started. People are such children that they (we) will believe anything; this combines in deadly fashion with the desire to care about the things we believe, and the desire to have other people care about the things we care about. This David drool, the poison Holloween candy drool, AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! is there no way to stop ????????? I'm a 46 year-old person and I swear I still catch myself not stepping on the cracks in the sidewalk. 66 > ^ .....brucer
ts@cup.portal.com (Tim W Smith) (01/05/89)
Someday, some dying little kid is going to really get the idea of trying to get the most postcards ( maybe by hearing about one of these hoaxes ). The poor kid is going to kick the bucket without a single postcard 'cause everyone will think it's another hoax! Tim Smith