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

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, 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, organization, a ...

. She was a fan and regular attendee at

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

s and worked her way up the

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

ladder, starting with work at the science fiction magazine ''

Galaxy A galaxy is a Physical system, system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar medium, interstellar gas, cosmic dust, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek ' (), literally 'milky', ...

''. 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 fantasy editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy an ...

, marrying him on March 21, 1971, after the death of his third wife. After moving to

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 ...

, she revitalized the publisher's once-prominent science fiction line, and soon after brought in Lester to edit Ballantine's fantasy line. With their success, she was given her own imprint, called

Del Rey Books Del Rey Books is an imprint (trade name), imprint of the Random House Group, a division of Penguin Random House. The imprint was established in 1977 under the editorship of Judy-Lynn del Rey and her husband, author Lester del Rey. Today, th ...

. 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. Originally a poll ...

for "Best Anthology" in 1976. As an editor, she was known for her rapport with authors. Philip K. Dick called her a "master craftsman" and "the best editor I've ever worked with", and

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born 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. H ...

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 and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

's then-unreleased movie ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'', which would earn Ballantine/Del Rey several million dollars. Del Rey was born with

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition of people and animals marked by unusually small size or short stature. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dwarfism is . '' ...

. She suffered a

brain hemorrhage The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

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 (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

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. On October 1, 2024, PBS premiered a documentary about her, ''Judy-Lynn del Rey: The Galaxy Gal'', which also aired as an episode of the 2021 television series ''Renegades''.

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