Lester del Rey
A Golden Age author and titan editor whose name became a byword for popular fantasy and SF.
Lester del Rey was a double force in science fiction: a respected Golden Age author who published memorable stories and novels from the 1930s onward, and — with his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey — the editorial power behind Del Rey Books, the imprint that turned fantasy and SF into mass-market blockbusters.
As a writer he produced enduring work like the story "Helen O'Loy," a touching early tale of a robot built for love, and the juvenile classics and novels that filled the era's magazines. As an editor he helped engineer the breakout success of authors who would define the modern shelf, shaping commercial fantasy and SF for decades.
Expect, in his own fiction, clean, humane, classically constructed storytelling from a master of the Golden Age — but remember his influence as a tastemaker runs even deeper. Del Rey is a name every serious genre reader should know: a writer and editor whose dual legacy helped make science fiction and fantasy the popular forces they are today.
- For readers interested in Golden Age SF
- Clean, humane classic storytelling
- A legendary editorial tastemaker
