Cry of the Nameless

Clubzine of The Nameless Ones starting in the 1950s, but by the mid-50s it had shortened its named to just Cry and had ceased to be a clubzine. It was edited for most of its lifetime by F. M. Busby with help from a number of people including Elinor Busby. In the 1960s, it was mainly the work of Wally Weber. The editors and contributors were known as the Cry Crowd.

It won the 1960 Best Fanzine Hugo, and was nominated for the 1959 Best Fanzine Hugo and the 1962 Best Fanzine Hugo

In the ’50s, it earned the reputation as one of the most fannish fanzines and one of its most popular features was its large letters column, "Cry of the Readers". It was the conduit into fandom for many younger fans who were just beginning to send off for fanzines and was a place where newer fans were at home with science fiction personalities such as Ellison, Asimov, Silverberg, Walt Willis, and Harry Warner, Jr.. Becoming a Cry letterhack was a kind of fannish rite of passage.

Other features included a prozine review column by F. M. Busby (as "Renfrew Pemberton"), the "Fandom Harvest" column by Terry Carr and John Berry's serialized 1959 North American trip report "The Goon Goes West".

Issue #135, the tenth annish was the first issue of 1960 and was one of the best. In that issue, Hal Lynch provided a piece of fan fiction about a fan who wanted to make a 12-hour film based on Sam Moskowitz's The Immortal Storm. Jose Ferrer played Don Wollheim; Gregory Peck as Bob Tucker; Yul Brynner as Hoy Ping Pong; and Raymond Burr as Moskowitz. It also included Dean Grennell denying that he was Les Nirenberg, an article by Les Gerber "How to Write Faan Fiction", and a letter from Bob Lichtman that summarized how many seasoned fans must have felt about fandom as the 1960s were just beginning: "I'm glad I'm not joining fandom now; think of all the things I'd have to wait ever so long to enter into the fun of, while I'm already in them. The learning process continues, and as I read every new fanzine I get, and with every letter I receive, and so on. I doubt that even Bloch knows everything about fandom, but imagine what a vast knowledge the elder Ghods like he and Tucker must have -- fannish allusions and jokes long forgotten by other fen."

Cry ceased publication after the 174th issue in mid 1964 primarily due to Wally Weber being moved by his employer, Boeing, from the Seattle area to Huntsville, Alabama. It briefly made a comeback in the late 1960s under Vera Heminger, but it wasn't the same.

rich brown, a frequent contributor to the letters column, looked back at Cry some decades later, and delivered this eulogy: "No other fanzine of the time had quite the same mixture of pros and BNFs and new fanzine fans as enthusiastic participants; people didn't just 'like' Cry, they were genuinely fond of it."

Issue	Date	Pages	Editor	Notes
1	January 4, 1950	4	G. M. Carr
2	February 1950	4	"
3	March 1950	2	"
4	April 1950	2	"
5	May 1950	8	"
6	September 1950	6 "
7	October 1950	6	"
7.5	October 19, 1950	2	"
8	November 1950	4	"
9	December 1950	12	"
10	January 1951	6	"
11	February 1951	8	"
12	March 1951	6	"
13	April 1951	7	"
14	May 1951	4	"
15	June 1951	8	"
16	September 1951	6	"
17	October 1951	8	Wally Weber
19	December 19, 1951	6	"
20	January 18, 1952	4	"
21	February 1, 1952	4	"
22	February 15, 1952	6	"
23	February 29, 1952	5	"
24	March 14, 1952	6	"
25	March 28, 1952	4	"
27	April 25, 1952	4	"
29	May 23, 1952	4	"
31	June 20, 1952	8	"
36	September 12, 1952	4	"
37	October 10, 1952	4	"
37.5	November 7, 1952	6	"
39	December 1952	4	"
44	March 1953	2	"
45	April 25, 1953	4	Wally Gonser
46	May 10, 1953	2	"
56	October 8, 1953	4	Wally Weber
60	December 6, 1953	2	"
66	March 4, 1954	8	"
67	March 21, 1954	10	"
76	December 30, 1954	14	Burnett Toskey
78	March 1955	16	F.M. Busby / Elinor Busby
81	June 1955	16	Burnett Toskey / Wally Weber
83	September 1955	18	F.M. Busby / Elinor Busby
84	October 1955	12	"
86	December 1955	18	"
88	February 1956	22	"
89	December 30, 1954	22	Burnett Toskey / Wally Weber
92	June 1956	24	Burnett Toskey / others
95	September 1956	32	Burnett Toskey / Wally Weber
96	October 1956	30	Wally Weber / others
97	November 1956	20	"
98	December 1956	24	"
100	February 1957	52	"
101	March 1957	30	Wally Weber
103	May 1957	22	Wally Weber / others
106	August 1957	40	Burnett Toskey / Wally Weber
108	October 1957	34	"
109	November 1957	34	Wally Weber
111	January 1958	42	Wally Weber / others
112	February 1958	39	Wally Weber
113	March 1958	36	"
114	April 1958	38	"
115	May 1958	53	F. M. Busby
116	June 1958	48	"
117	July 1958		Burnett Toskey
118	August 1958	50	Wally Weber
119	September 1958	37	"
120	October 1958	38	F. M. Busby
121	November 1958		"
122	December 1958	40	Wally Weber
123	January 1959	36	F. M. Busby / Elinor Busby / Burnett Toskey / Wally Weber
	January 21, 1959	2		Letter from Ted Pauls
124	February 1959	46	F. M. Busby
125	March 1959	46	"
126	April 1959	46	"
127	May 1959	46	"
128	June 1959	42	"
129	July 1959	38	"
130	August 1959	46	"
131	September 1959	34	"
132	October 1959	38	"
133	November 1959	34	"
134	December 1959	54	"
135	January 1960	104	"
136	February 1960	46	"
137	March 1960	66	"
138	April 1960	52	"
139	May 1960	48	"
140	June 1960	50	"
141	July 1960	54	"
142	August 1960	44	"
	September 1960	4	"
143	October 1960	44	"
144	November 1960	42	"
145	December 1960	62	"
146	January 1961	46	"	Title changes to simply Cry
147	February 1961	34	"
148	March 1961	44	"
149	April 1961	44	"
150	May 1961	38	"
151	June 1961	32	"
152	August 1961	38	"
153	October 1961	38	"
154	November 1961	32	"
155	December 1961	36	"
156	January 1962	26	"
157	February 1962	26	"
159	April 1962	36	"
160	May 1962	32	"
161	June 1962	36	"
162	August 1962	40	"
163	October 1962	38	"
164	November 1962	32	"
165	December 1962	36	Wally Weber / F. M. Busby / Elinor Busby
166	February 1963	38	"
167	April 1963	34	"
168	June 1963	34	"
169	August 1963	23	"
170	October 1963	36@	"
171	December 1963	32@	"
172	February 1964	32@	"
173	April 1964	32@	Wally Weber / Ella Parker
173.5	April 1964	12	Wally Weber / F. M. Busby / Elinor Busby
174	June 1964	34	"
175	August 1964	12		hoax issue by Phil Harrell and Wally Weber and marked as ARGH 1964
175	August 1968	18	Wally Weber / Elinor Busby / Vera Heminger
176	September 1968	42	"
177	November 1968	42	"
178	December 1968	52	"
179	February 1969	42	"
180	March 1969	40	"
181	May 1969	44	"
182	June 1969	36	Wally Weber / Wally Gonser
183	August 1969	48	"
184	September 1969	46	"
185	November 1969	38	Elinor Busby
186	June 1970	50	Elinor Busby	Claimed to be the last issue "in its most recent, and hopefully last, incarnation."
187	January 1989	50

• Cry of the Nameless online at fanac.org

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Publication

1950—1989

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