Dates

• Existence: 1907-2005

Biography

Gertrude Martha Wall Jacobson was born on April 18, 1907, and lived the majority of her life in the Seattle, Washington area. She was married to Frank Carr, also of Seattle. She worked for much of her life as a bookkeeper for the Western Refrigeration Company, although for a time she also operated Gem's Hobby, a used books and collectable shop. She entered fandom in 1949 after attending a mini science fiction convention in Oregon, and then the regional science fiction convention, NORWESCON in 1950, where she was recruited into both the Fantasy Amateur Press Association (FAPA) and the Spectator Amateur Press Society (SAPS). She was one of the charter members, and Secretary, of the Seattle-area fan society The Nameless Ones, where she also co-edited the club fanzine The Cry of the Nameless.   Carr was a member of a number of other fan associations, including the Whimsical Amateur Press Association (WAPA), the British Science-Fiction Association (BSFA), the Little Monsters of America (TLMA), the Seattle SF Club, and the Puget Sound Star Trekkers.. She was most active as a member of the venerable National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F), in which she served in several administrative capacities.   In addition to Cry, Carr edited or co-edited a number of other fan publications, including Sinisterra, Carrzine, Gemzine, Gem Tones, Epistles and Egoboo, and Unasked Opinions. She submitted a number of stories for professional publication, but apparently only sold one, via Forrest J. Ackerman: in Carr's own words, she could not recall when, where, or if it was published.   Carr's involvement with fandom ebbed and flowed (she was prone to fits of gafia - Getting Away From It All), but never disappeared entirely. In the 1960s and 1970s, for example, she became a fan of the television series Star Trek, which seems to have reignited much of her interest in the fannish world. Carr's fannish and APA activities continued until 2003, and she died on March 6, 2005.

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