Betty Ballantine (born Elizabeth Jones; September 25, 1919 – February 12, 2019) was an American publisher, editor, and writer. She was born during
the Raj 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. K ...
in 1945 and established
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...
in 1952.
[ They became freelance publishers in the 1970s. Their son, ]Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
, 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 an additional one shared with Joy Chant 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 list of legendary kings of Britain, legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Art ...
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.
Originally a poll ...
categories.)[ Betty Ballantine received a Special Committee Award from the annual ]World Science Fiction Convention
Worldcon, officially 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, during Wor ...
in 2006 and a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement
The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...
from the World Fantasy Convention
The World Fantasy Convention is an annual science fiction convention, 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 sh ...
in 2007.[
]
Publications
Ballantine wrote the novel ''The Secret Oceans'', published by Bantam in 1994 () with illustrations by twelve artists.[
]
References
Further reading
* Silver, Steven H. "An Award Well Deserved". '' Argentus'', 2005, p. 5.
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 list of science fiction authors, science-fiction writer, editor, and science fiction fandom, fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first ...
, 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 book publishing company founders
American paperback book publishers (people)
American science fiction editors
American speculative fiction editors
American women editors
Ballantine family
British emigrants to the United States
British people in colonial India
Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductees