Before MySpace, before FaceBook, before Twitter, there was GhostSurfers ...

Charles Walter Carvin, Jr. (10/12/23 - 8/5/95), also known as "Charley", which is often misspelled "Charlie", presents a very good example of why GhostSurfers.com is needed. Here was a very remarkable man, who like most famous and almost famous people, was largely forgotten, even in his own lifetime, despite his fame. Without GhostSurfers, in just two or three generations he would be remembered very little any more, if at all. Is it not enough that our bodies return to dust? Must we also be forgotten?

It is a driving instinct in every person to be remembered, to be known, admired, respected and loved, but if you think about it, it must be admitted that even the greatest kings are forgotten. Hollywood celebrities of yesteryear also, for all their fame while they are under the spot light, are quickly forgotten, as well. The new generation does not know them. All of their striving after recognition is ultimately in vain.

Not even the Bible brings familiarity with even the greatest of men and women. Abel was slain by Cain. Does anyone know anything about Abel? What about Seth? There are hundreds of Biblical kings also, and all we know about most of them is their name. We know even less of the kings of other cultures. We are talking about kings. What definition of success is higher? Who wouldn't strive to become a king if they had a chance? Who can even name the forty some odd presidents of the United States? Almost no one even remembers their name, much less who they were or what they did. So what of those with even less significance?

Why do men and women strive so much? They do it so they can be loved, admired, known and respected. They do it so they can be remembered, and on a deeper level, what they actually want is to live on forever in that same state of being admired and loved.

Think of the Egyptian kings. How much effort did these kings exert to be remembered? They enslaved thousands of people so that they could live on either through the presence of their monuments or in a future resurrection in which they hoped. Most people do not want to die. They want to live forever. They want to be loved and remembered.

People everywhere, not just kings, not just celebrities, spend lifetimes seeking recognition for their work. And how much recognition do they actually get? A few glory in their popularity for a time. Sadly, most get very little or no attention. For the best of them, a star in a brick on Hollywood Blvd. helps preserve a memory and serves as a sign of achievement but does not keep anyone in the spot light. Death remains a reality for everyone, without exception. Memories fade even for the very greatest Hollywood stars.

It was the death of Charley Carvin that brought about a realization, the realization that the Internet could be used to preserve life's good memories and to hold on to those we love. What began with a family comforting their mother, now a widow, turned into a vision. It parallels Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesmen in some respects. Charley was a salesman whose success might have been measured by the number of people who showed up at his funeral. Some, even family members, doubted his exaggerations. The children got a chuckle as the priest who'd visited him while he was sick relayed anectdotes in his memorial mass homily they had never heard. He said he had been at Lucky Luciano's deportation party, and then there was the story of a visit to England where Charley got into the wrong limo and next to him sat Winston Churchill who said, "Charley?!" Truth and the man weren't always easy to reconcile.

It's not that these things couldn't have been true. Charley looked much like his own father, Charles Walter Carvin, Sr.. Charley Sr., the family was told, had been the first tenant of the Empire State Building. Anyone who knows anything of the history of this edifice will tell you that it was "largely" unoccupied for many years after it was built. Most of the commerce in the city was downtown. The "Empty State Building" had been built quite far away over the old Waldorf Astoria, which was then moved across the street. If anyone knew anybody it was Charley Sr., who positioned himself as one of the only businesses to visit in New York City from the new Waldorf. The Waldorf is where a group known as "The 400" used to meet. These were the self proclaimed richest and most influential people in the world. Charley's father became their entertainer and frequent dinner guest.

Charley's father, Charley, taught him the textile business at Carvin Company. Charley Sr. was a man of many talents - a cartoonist, a stand up, a shrewd entrepreneur, and a very funny toast master at dinner parties, supposedly Bob Hope's favorite, but what does that matter? Bob Hope is already being forgotten by the coming generation. Charley's son walked in his father's shadow to emulate greatness but the larger-than-life Charleys both went the way of all the living and the dead. Their children remembered them and properly doubted some of the stories. Their friends forgot them as their achievements served them no purpose. What would it serve anyone to live in the past?

Charley Sr. taught his son sales and marketing. "Total Marketing!" his son would say. Charley Jr. will be remembered for these two words, if for anything. His team at Allied Chemical's Fibers Division honored him for the eight point Total Marketing Concept he taught. "Deal in excitement. It's contageous," it said. And fun. Charley brought color to a black and white age. His time at Allied had been worth celebrating and remembering. And he seems to have had a bit more success than Arthur Miller's Willy Loman.

His TMC was tongue in cheek but taught well. Point eight, for instance: "the duller the product the brighter the prospects for promotional success."

By this he meant to say that pure marketing, total marketing, has nothing to do with the product. It is about delivery - from concept to execution. It doesn't ask what it is. It answers the question, "how do you make it happen?"

Charley made it happen. A true marketer will make it happen. A total marketer will make it happen to its maximum potential. He was issuing a challenge.

It wasn't just a challenge it was a command and on dull products Charley did deliver. Case in point - polyester. It's easy to overlook, but this fabric reached its height of popularity right around the time when Charley Carvin was marketing it. Let's not forget shag carpet either. Charley received awards and recognition for his success. He was even voted "Man of the Year" - not by Time Magazine, but by the Piece Goods Association. The saying "Happily its Carvin, the more colorful marketing man" came from the trademark he made for Allied's Caprolan carpet fiber - those beautiful multicolored shag rugs some of us are old enough to remember.

Charley wore pastel sports jackets and pants. His paisley satin sports coats begged for attention. He shaped the fashion of the sixties and seventies as he led the way with color. Charley was, indeed, the total marketing man.

So what is the point? The ghost machine is not about Charley. It is about every one of us and our very dull selves seeking more than what this life has to offer. We are all ghosts with halos. We are invisible, wanting visibility. We want to be loved and to love. Halos represent love and all that is good and worth keeping, everything that is colorful and full of life. Charley's first son was born Charles Walter Carvin III. He had Down Syndrome. Like most of us, he also loved and was loved. He brought color to the lives of those around him. And he also died. From the greatest of us to the least of us there is much that is worth remembering. We are not all celebrities. Still fewer are kings and presidents, or even successful entrepreneurs, but none of us need be forgotten. None of us need have our inner desire to live on in the land of the living be thwarted even by death. GhostSurfers has the answer.

The answer is within. We invite you to join us and see what marketing concept there could possibly be that could do so much. There is a five step plan. You are encouraged to read up on our history and peer into our future. At this time we are gathering up an Advisory Board to help us raise up soldiers for this vision. When many wise and gifted are united in a single goal, particularly one so vital, victory becomes certain. Ladies and gentlemen, we can make this happen, and you will not be disappointed.

For further information, please sign a non-disclosure agreement and fax to the number below:

Feel free to contact James Carvin, the company's founder at JamesCarvin.com during our PreLaunch to discuss the formation of the Advisory Board and Management Team.