del Rey, Lester

del Rey, (Ramon Felipe San Juan Mario Silvio Enrico) Lester

(1915–93) writer, editor; born in Clydesdale, Minn. He studied at George Washington University (1931–33) and during World War II was a sheet-metal worker for McDonnell Aircraft Corp. (1942–44). He moved to New York City and became a well-known fantasy and science fiction writer; he was so prolific that he used many pen names—among others, John Alvarez, Cameron Hall, Marion Henry, Philip James—and sometimes collaborated with other writers under such names as Edson McCann and Charles Satterfield. He taught fantasy fiction at New York University (1972–73) and as editor of the del Rey imprint at Ballantine Books he was credited with promoting a revival of serious fantasy and science fiction. A sampling of his own work is in The Best of Lester del Rey (1978).

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.