Betty Ballantine (born Elizabeth Jones; September 25, 1919 – February 12, 2019) was an American publisher, editor, and writer. She was born during

the Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

to a British colonial family. After her marriage to Ian Ballantine in 1939, she moved to New York where they created

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

in 1945 and established

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 remains p ...

in 1952. They became freelance publishers in the 1970s. Their son,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

, was an author and journalist specializing in cycling topics.

Company

Ian and Betty Ballantine won one special

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

for professional work in 1975 and another one shared with

Joy Chant Joy Chant (born 13 January 1945) is a British fantasy writer. She is best known for the three House of Kendreth novels, published 1970 to 1983. Her legal name is Eileen Joyce Rutter. Biography Eileen Joyce (nickname, "Joy") Chant was born in Lo ...

and other creators of ''The High Kings'' (Bantam, 1983), a reference book on the

Matter of Britain The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Weste ...

that incorporates retellings. (It was also a runner-up in nonfiction Hugo and

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 p ...

categories.) Betty Ballantine received a Special Committee Award from the annual

World Science Fiction Convention Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, durin ...

in 2006 and a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement from the

World Fantasy Convention The World Fantasy Convention is an annual convention of professionals, collectors, and others interested in the field of fantasy. The World Fantasy Awards are presented at the event. Other features include an art show, a dealer's room, and an ...

in 2007. The Ballantines were both inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2008, with a shared citation.

Publication

Ballantine wrote the novel ''The Secret Oceans'' published by Bantam in 1994 () with illustrations by twelve artists.

References

External links

* — identical to its *
Betty Ballantine at Feminist SF

"Couples Who Mastered Publishing, No. 2: The Ballantines"
by

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937 poem "Elegy to a Dead Satellit ...

, March 15, 2011
"Publishing legend Betty Ballantine dies in Bearsville at 99"
from Hudson Valley One, February 18, 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballantine, Betty 1919 births 2019 deaths American paperback book publishers (people) Science fiction editors Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductees British people in colonial India British emigrants to the United States Ballantine family Women speculative fiction editors

Company

Publication

See also

References

Further reading

External links