About the Author
Lester del Rey (a contraction of his real name, Ramon Alvarez del Rey) wrote of his early years in extensive autobiographical commentary to his collection, THE EARLY DEL REY (l975). A midwesterner who came to New York in the middle of the Depression years, del Rey was a science fiction reader and enthusiast who, he wrote, had thrown the latest issue of ASTOUNDING on the floor in disgust and said to his girlfriend, "I can write a better story than that and sell it." "Then why don't you do it?" his girlfriend said. Rising fearfully to a challenge he had not expected, del Rey wrote THE FAITHFUL in two hours and sent it to ASTOUNDING's editor, John W. Campbell. Several weeks later, a check for $40 - no letter, no explanation - arrived from the magazine. (Del Rey learned in due course that this was Campbell's method of accepting stories. Non-routine rejections or requests for revision commanded single-spaced letters which could go on for thousands of words.

Del Rey, who had been working at a series of unpublished-writer-type jobs - short order cook, messenger, typist, dishwasher - decided that he had made a great discovery, "I had spent a couple of hours doing something I liked and had been paid more for it than I had ever earned in a week." He wrote three more stories for Campbell, all rejected and del Rey decided that his sale had been a fluke. But then, he received a note from Campbell, "Your story, THE FAITHFUL, has gotten some very good responses from the readers and is moving up nicely in the polls. I expect you to write more." Encouraged, del Rey did write more, sold his next story to Campbell and by the early l940's had become one of the key contributors to ASTOUNDING's great first decade under Campbell's editorship. Del Rey also contributed to Street&Smith's fantasy companion to ASTOUNDING, UNKNOWN WORLDS, and in l947 sold his first book, a collection of short stories AND SOME WERE HUMAN, to the Prime Press.

After the war, del Rey worked as an editor at the offices of his new literary agent, Scott Meredith, before becoming a full-time freelancer; he also edited SPACE SCIENCE FICTION, a short lived l950's digest magazine and with THE RUNAWAY ROBOT (l952) inaugurated a series of juvenile science fiction novels for Winston Publishers which were popular and influential. He married Judy-Lynn (nee Benjamin) in l970 and with her became joint publisher of Ballantine's Del Rey books in l975. Del Rey Books under their guidance became the most important and successful of all science fiction publishers, bringing bestseller status to many writers such s Anne McCaffrey, Terry Brooks (Lester del Rey's discovery), Stephen Donaldson. Judy-Lynn del Rey died suddenly in l986, Lester del Rey presided alone until his retirement five years later.

Awarded the SFFWA Grand Master in l99l, del Rey died in New York City in l993.