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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | February 1950 | 4 | G. M. Carr | |
| 3 | March 1950 | 2 | " | |
| 4 | April 1950 | 2 | " | |
| 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 | " | |
| 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 | " | |
| 375 | 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 187 | January 1989 | 50 |
Cry of the Nameless online at fanac.org
| Publication | 1950—1989 |
| This is a publication page. Please extend it by adding information about when and by whom it was published, how many issues it has had, (including adding a partial or complete checklist), its contents (including perhaps a ToC listing), its size and repro method, regular columnists, its impact on fandom, or by adding scans or links to scans. See Standards for Publications. |
