Lester del Rey

Lester del Rey

Judy-Lynn and Lester del Rey at Minicon in Minneapolis, 1974
Born Leonard Knapp
June 2, 1915 (1915-06-02)
Saratoga, Minnesota, United States
Died May 10, 1993(1993-05-10) (aged 77)
New York City, New York, United States
Pen name John Alvarez, Marion Henry, Philip James, Philip St. John, Charles Satterfield, Erik van Lhin
Occupation Writer, editor
Nationality American
Period 1938–1991
Genre Fantasy, science fiction
Spouse Helen Schlaz (second of four, m. 1945), Evelyn Harrison, Judy-Lynn Benjamin
del Rey's novella "When the World Tottered" was the cover story in the December 1950 issue of Fantastic Adventures, illustrated by Robert Gibson Jones
del Rey's novelette "The Wind Between the Worlds" was the cover story in the March 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction
del Rey's novelette "I Am Tomorrow" was the cover story in the debut issue of Dynamic Science Fiction in 1952
del Rey's "short novel" "The Life Watch" took the cover of the September 1954 issue of Fantastic Universe
del Rey's novel Badge of Infamy took the cover of the June 1957 issue of Satellite Science Fiction
del Rey's "Spawning Ground" was the cover story in the September 1961 issue of If

Lester del Rey (June 2, 1915 – May 10, 1993) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction imprint of Ballantine Books, along with his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey.

Birth name

Del Rey often told people his real name was Ramon Felipe Alvarez-del Rey (and sometimes even Ramon Felipe San Juan Mario Silvio Enrico Smith Heartcourt-Brace Sierra y Alvarez del Rey y de los Uerdes). He also claimed that his family was killed in a car accident in 1935. However, his sister has confirmed that his name was really Leonard Knapp, and the accident in 1935 killed his first wife but not his parents, brother, or sister.[1]

Career

Del Rey first started publishing stories in pulp magazines in the late 1930s, at the dawn of the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction. He was associated with the most prestigious science fiction magazine of the era, Astounding Science Fiction, from the time its editor John W. Campbell published his first short story in the April 1938 issue: "The Faithful", already under the name Lester del Rey. The December 1938 issue featured his story "Helen O'Loy" which was selected for the prestigious anthology The Science Fiction Hall of Fame. By the end of 1939 he had also placed stories in Weird Tales (edited by Farnsworth Wright) and Unknown (Campbell),[2] which featured more horror and more fantasy respectively. In the 1950s, del Rey was one of the main authors writing science fiction for adolescents (along with Robert A. Heinlein and Andre Norton). During this time some of his fiction was published under the name "Erik van Lhin".

During a period when del Rey's work was not selling well, he worked as a short order cook at the White Tower Restaurant in New York. After he married his second wife, Helen Schlaz, in 1945, he quit that job to write full-time. After meeting Scott Meredith at the 1947 World Science Fiction Convention, he began working as a first reader for the new Scott Meredith Literary Agency, where he also served as office manager.[3][4][5]

He later became an editor for several pulp magazines and then for book publishers. During 1952 and 1953, del Rey edited several magazines: Space SF, Fantasy Fiction, Science Fiction Adventures (as Philip St. John), Rocket Stories (as Wade Kaempfert), and Fantasy Fiction (as Cameron Hall).[6] Also during 1952, his first two novels were published in the Winston juvenile series, one with an Italian-language edition in the same year.[2]

In 1957, del Rey and Damon Knight co-edited a small amateur magazine named Science Fiction Forum. During a debate about symbolism within the magazine, del Rey accepted Knight's challenge to write an analysis of the James Blish story "Common Time" that showed the story was about a man eating a ham sandwich.[7]

Del Rey was most successful editing with his fourth wife, Judy-Lynn del Rey, at Ballantine Books (as a Random House property, post-Ballantine) where they established the fantasy and science fiction imprint Del Rey Books in 1977.[8] After science fiction gained respectability and began to be taught in classrooms, del Rey stated that academics interested in the genre should "get out of my Ghetto."[9][10] Del Rey stated that "to develop science fiction had to remove itself from the usual critics who viewed it from the perspective of [the] mainstream, and who judged its worth largely on its mainstream values. As part of that mainstream, it would never have had the freedom to make the choices it did – many of them quite possibly wrong, but necessary for its development."[11] For a number of years in the 1970s, Del Rey, himself, helmed the review column for Analog Science Fiction and Fact entitled The Reference Library.

Del Rey was a member of an all-male literary banqueting club, the Trap Door Spiders, which served as the basis of Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery solvers, the Black Widowers. Del Rey was the model for "Emmanuel Rubin".[12]

Awards

Del Rey was awarded the 1972 E. E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction (the "Skylark") by the New England Science Fiction Association for "contributing significantly to science fiction, both through work in the field and by exemplifying the personal qualities that made the late "Doc" Smith well-loved by those who knew him". He also won a special 1985 Balrog Award for his contributions to fantasy, voted by fans and organized by Locus Magazine. The Science Fiction Writers of America named him its 11th SFWA Grand Master in 1990, presented 1991.[13][14]

Selected works

Novels

Short fiction collections

Nonfiction

As editor

References

  1. ↑ "People & Publishing". Locus. Locus Publications. January 2008. p. 8.
  2. 1 2 Lester del Rey at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2013-04-12. Select a title to see its linked publication history and general information. Select a particular edition (title) for more data at that level, such as a front cover image or linked contents.
  3. ↑ Moskowitz, Sam (1966). Seekers of Tomorrow. World Publishing Company. p. 181.
  4. ↑ Knight, Damon (1977). The Futurians. John Day. p. 180. ISBN 0-381-98288-2.
  5. ↑ Davin, Eric Leif (1999). "From Wisconsin to Mars: A Conversation with Raymond F. Gallun". Pioneers of Wonder: 216.
  6. ↑ Ashley, Michael (1975). The History of the Science Fiction Magazine, Vol. 3: 1946-1955. CBI. p. 331. ISBN 0-8092-7841-3.
  7. ↑ Knight, Damon (1996). In Search of Wonder. Advent:Publishers. p. 284. ISBN 0-911682-31-7.
  8. ↑ Davin, Eric Leif (1999). Pioneers of Wonder. Prometheus Books. p. 226. ISBN 1-57392-702-3.
  9. ↑ Letson, Russell (1994). "Contributions to the Critical Dialogue: As an Academic Sees It". Science Fiction Fandom: 230–232.
  10. ↑ Ashley, Michael (2007). Gateways to Forever: The Story of the Science Fiction Magazines from 1970-1980. Liverpool University Press. p. 295. ISBN 978-1-84631-003-4.
  11. ↑ Davin, Eric Leif (1999). Pioneers of Wonder. Prometheus Books. pp. 14–15. ISBN 1-57392-702-3.
  12. ↑ Asimov, Isaac (1994). I. Asimov: A Memoir. Doubleday. pp. 380–383. ISBN 0-385-41701-2.
  13. ↑ "del Rey, Lester". The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index to Literary Nominees. Locus Publications. Retrieved 2013-04-02.
  14. ↑ "Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master". Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). Retrieved 2013-04-02.
Citations
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