Crowe’s Bigfoot Newsletter Has Died
Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 1st, 2007
A long-time member of the Western Bigfoot Society (sometimes called the International Bigfoot Society) just emailed me that Ray Crowe is officially discontinuing his monthy meetings, and his long-time Bigfoot newsletter, The Track Record.
It is well known that Ray has had a long battle with heart disease and diabetes, which is contributing to his decision.
At this point, the future of the WBS and the The Track Record may be elusive, as the status of the 501(c)3 may now be in jeopardy or soon gone. Discussions by the membership are expected soon on how to continue Ray Crowe’s work and tradition.
While Ray Crowe is a hard-working human being, the demise of his newsletter has been in the works for years, after his health tumbled and his wife died.
Indeed, due to his need for fiscal support, Ray gave up editorial objectivity years ago, when The Track Record was funded by Peter Byrne who, Ray said often, would not allow anything Byrne did not approve to be published.
Such a state of being also has recently existed during the last year, for the issues that Tom Biscardi funded. Biscardi would not allow any commentary that was negative to his own positions to be published in The Track Record.
Ray Crowe wrote in August of 2006, that his Bigfoot-oriented The Track Record would be publishing again, as Tom Biscardi was going to pay for it. Ray Crowe said on August 17th: “Tom is now my best friend.”
But Tom Biscardi quit paying for the The Track Record three or four months ago.
Local Bigfooter Joe Beelart gave Ray Crowe money for the August 2007 issue, but that was the last issue of which there was any support. Beelart, without asking for any kind of editorial input, has given Ray Crowe contributions into the low four figures over the years.
I will try to remember Crowe’s newsletter from it’s good old days, before it had the taint of editorial censorship on every page. Crowe’s publication was a great idea. Too bad that fiscal forces worked against it and those that decided to donate (except for Beelart and unnamed others) decided to exercise such an alleged personal hold over the publication.
Ray Crowe’s subtle impact on the field will be missed, as it slowly has been for several years.
What is needed now is a fully-funded, editorially-freewheeling, objective Bigfoot newsletter, although it appears the void of paper newsletters is rapidly being filled by Sasquatch-oriented blogs.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Yes, it seems that online publications and blogs are slowly becoming the bane of actual paper newsletters and magazines. Wave of the future and all that. I personally like actual paper editions that I can hold there in my hands. I like the feel of riffling through actual pages. Call me old fashioned, but I for one would like to see a solid Bigfoot newsletter put out.
yikes, I misread the story headline here – i thought it said Ray Crowe has died!
Whew.
Blogs are a more sensible approach if you ask me. You can reach a far wider audience and the editing and adding of new info are just a few clicks away.
Although I appreciate the feeling and texture of holding a real book on your hands, it is a more difficult process to distribute information. Relying on social networks through the Internet is the best think that could have happened to cryptozoology.
Well, the next best thing, until a Bigfoot carcass appears I mean 😉