Judy-Lynn del Rey

Judy-Lynn del Rey née Benjamin (January 26, 1943 – February 20, 1986) was a science fiction editor.[1]

Born with dwarfism, she was a fan and regular attendee at science fiction conventions and worked her way up the publishing ladder, starting with work at the science fiction magazine Galaxy.[1]

Judy-Lynn was friends with Lester del Rey and married him after the death of his third wife.[2] After moving to Ballantine Books, she revitalized the publisher's once-prominent science fiction line there, and soon after brought in Lester to edit Del Rey's fantasy line. With their success, she was given her own imprint, called Del Rey Books. She also edited an original science fiction anthology series, Stellar. As an editor, she was known for her rapport with authors and she had a beloved reputation. She was also instrumental in obtaining the rights to publish novels based on George Lucas's then un-released movie Star Wars, which would earn Ballantine/Del Rey several million dollars.

She suffered a brain hemorrhage in October 1985 and died several months later. In 1986, she was posthumously awarded the Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor, but Lester del Rey declined the award in her name, saying that she would have objected to the award being given to her just because she had recently died.

A Scanner Darkly

Philip K. Dick on Judy-Lyn Del Rey and A Scanner Darkly:

"Judy-Lyn Del Rey at Ballantine went over the manuscript page by page with me, that's A Scanner Darkly, and told me what it needed to make it into a really competent book.… Judy-Lyn del Rey, I've never had an editor like her before. She is probably the greatest editor since Maxwell Perkins. She showed me how to create a character and I've been selling novels for 22 years. And she showed me how to develop a character. Now that really—my first reaction was dear Judy-Lyn how would you like to take a one way walk off the Long Beach pier? But then I started looking at what she was saying there. And as soon as my fuse had burned out, being very short, it didn't take long, I realized that she was teaching me how to write. And it's too bad nobody did that 25 years ago because then maybe my books would make more sense. But look for A Scanner Darkly because that's—there's a master craftsman came into that book, Judy-Lyn del Rey."[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Clute, John; Peter Nicholls (1993). Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press. pp. 319. ISBN 0312096186. 
  2. ^ del Rey, Lester; Frederik Pohl (2009). War and Space. Framingham, MA: NESFA Press. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-1-886778-76-4. 
  3. ^ KPFK-FM, 'Hour 25: A Talk With Philip K. Dick', interview with Mike Hodel, 1976 June 26, transcription by F. Betrand. from philipkdickfans.com

External links