Judy Lynn and Lester Del Rey at Minicon 8 (1974)

Judy-Lynn del Rey née Benjamin (January 26, 1943 – February 20, 1986) was a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, ...

. Born with

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dw ...

, she was a fan and regular attendee at

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expr ...

s and worked her way up the publishing ladder, starting with work at the science fiction magazine ''

Galaxy A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar Sys ...

''. She was Managing Editor of ''Galaxy'' magazine from July 1969 until July 1971, whilst also working on '' If'' magazine. Judy-Lynn was a friend of

Lester del Rey 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 scien ...

, marrying him in March 1971, after the death of his third wife. After moving to

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remain ...

, she revitalized the publisher's once-prominent science fiction line, 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 Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn, by Penguin Random House. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. I ...

. She also edited an original science fiction anthology series, ''Stellar'', one of which, ''Stellar'' #2, won the

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

for "Best Anthology" in 1976. As an editor, she was known for her rapport with authors.

Philip K. Dick Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928March 2, 1982), often referred to by his initials PKD, was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his l ...

called her a "master craftsman" and "the best editor I've ever worked with", and

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and ...

described her as "incredibly intelligent, quick-witted, hard-driving" and "generally recognised (especially by me) as one of the top editors in the business". She was also instrumental in obtaining the rights to publish novels based on

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chai ...

's then-unreleased movie ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'', which would earn Ballantine/Del Rey several million dollars. She suffered a

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

in October 1985 and died several months later.White, Michael ''Asimov: The Unauthorized Life'' p. 224 In 1986, she was posthumously awarded the

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier ...

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.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Del Rey, Judy-Lynn 1943 births 1986 deaths Science fiction editors American speculative fiction editors People with dwarfism American book editors Women print editors 20th-century American women writers Women speculative fiction editors