Lester del Rey
Personal Information
Description
Lester del Rey was born Leonard Knapp in Saratoga, Minnesota, the son of poor sharecroppers of partly Spanish ancestry. His mother died shortly after his birth, and he managed to complete high school and two years at George Washington University before dropping out for economic reasons. He started publishing stories in pulp magazines in the late 1930s. He was closely associated Astounding Science Fiction, then the leading science fiction magazine. In 1935, his first wife was killed in a car accident. By 1947 he had written enough solid short fiction to generate his first book, the anthology And Some Were Human. In the 1950s, he was a leading science fiction writer. After marrying his second wife in 1945, he became a full-time writer. In 1947 he met the literary agent Scott Meredith at a convention and he began working for Meredith's agency as a reader and office manager. He later made his way into editing for pulp magazines and then for book publishers. In 1952 and 1953, he edited Space SF, Fantasy Fiction, Science Fiction Adventures (as Philip St. John), Rocket Stories (as Wade Kampfaert), and Fantasy Fiction (as Cameron Hall). He was most successful editing for Ballantine Books with his final wife, Judy-Lynn del Rey, and founded a popular science fiction imprint with her at Ballantine, Del Rey Books, in 1977.
Books
Once upon a time
A collection of original fairy tales by ten science fiction and fantasy writers, including Isaac Asimov, Lester del Rey, and Anne McCaffrey.
The sky is falling
The Sky Is Falling A spellbinding novel of glamour, sex, power, and murder that spans the globe If America had a royal family, the Winthrop.
Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year -- fifth annual collection
One Hundred
Jackie Sees a Star by Marion Zimmer Bradley All Cats are Gray by Andre Norton Song in a Minor Key by C. L. Moore Travel Diary by Alfred Bester Pythias by Frederik Pohl The Good Neighbors by Edgar Pangborn The Sound of Silence by Barbara Constant The Intruder by Emil Petaja An Ounce of Cure by Alan Edward Nourse Longevity by Therese Windser The Ghost of Mohammed Din by Clark Ashton Smith Of Time and Texas by William F. Nolan Native Son by Thelma Hamm Evans Gorgono and Slith by Ray Bradbury The Eyes Have It by Philip K. Dick The Putnam Tradition by Sonya Dorman Gods of the North by Robert E. Howard Small World by William F. Nolan Nightmare on the Nose by Evelyn E. Smith Collector's Item by Robert F. Young Crossroads of Destiny by H. Beam Piper The Hoofer by Walter M. Miller, Jr. Doorstep by Keith Laumer The Jovian Jest by Lilith Lorraine Dream World by R. A. Lafferty Shatter the Wall by Sydney Van Scyoc The Big Engine by Fritz Leiber Misbegotten Missionary by Isaac Asimov The One and the Many by Milton Lesser The Glory of Ippling by Helen M. Urban Where There's Hope by Jerome Bixby 2BR02B by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Disqualified by Charles L. Fontenay No Strings Attached by Lester del Rey Zeritsky's Law by Ann Griffith Say Hello for Me by Frank W. Coggins Navy Day by Harry Harrison The Undersea Tube by Lucile Taylor Hansen Probability by Louis Trimble No Shield from the Dead by Gordon R. Dickson I'll Kill You Tomorrow by Helen Huber The Secret of Kralitz by Henry Kuttner Never Stop to Pat a Kitten by Miriam Allen deFord More than Shadow by Dorothy Quick The Monkey Spoons by Mary Elizabeth Counselman Witch of the Demon Seas by Poul Anderson The Piebald Hippogriff by Karen Anderson The Vampire of Wembley by Edgar Wallace Riya's Foundling by Algis Budrys Ask a Foolish Question by Robert Sheckley Flight From Tomorrow by H. Beam Piper Robots of the World! Arise! by Mari Wolf The Worlds of If by Stanley G. Weinbaum The Adventurer by C. M. Kornbluth Decision by Frank M. Robinson The Waker Dreams by Richard Matheson A Matter of Proportion by Anne Walker One-Shot by James Blish McILVAINE'S Star by August Derleth The Man with the Nose by Rhoda Broughton Operation Haystack by Frank Herbert The Nothing Equation by Tom Godwin The Man Who Saw the Future by Edmond Hamilton Common Denominator by John D. MacDonald The Natives by Katherine MacLEAN The Lonely by Judith Merril The Street That Wasn't There by Clifford D. Simak and Carl Jacobi Food for Friendship by E. C. Tubb Half Around Pluto by Manly Wade Wellman Project Hush by William Tenn Time Enough At Last by Lynn Venable Bride of the Dark One by Florence Verbell Brown The Cosmic Express by Jack Williamson The Next Logical Step by Ben Bova They Twinkled like Jewels by Philip José Farmer Shandy by Ron Goulart Tight Squeeze by Dean C. Ing Extracts from the Galactick Almanack by Laurence Janifer Postmark Ganymede by Robert Silverberg Hot Planet by Hal Clement The Tenth Scholar by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem A Little Journey by Ray Bradbury Strain by L. Ron Hubbard The Time of Cold by Mary Carlson The Customs Lounge by Annie Proulx I, Executioner by Ted White and Terry Carr and many more
The Runaway Robot
this is one of the first sf books that I read and will always remember it.
The Seventh Galaxy Reader
Stories from Galaxy Magazine: 1960-1963. Introduction / Frederik Pohl. For love / Algis Budrys. Come into my cellar / Ray Bradbury. The tail-tied kings / Avram Davidson. Crime machine / Robert Bloch. Return engagement / Lester Del Rey. Earthmen bearing gifts / Frederic Brown. Rainbird / R.A. Lafferty. Three portraits and a prayer / Frederik Pohl. Something bright / Zenna Henderson. On the gem planet / Cordwainer Smith. The deep down dragon / Judith Merril. The king of the city / Keith Laumer. The beat cluster / Fritz Leiber. An old fashioned bird Christmas / Margaret St. Clair. The big pat boom / Damon Knight.
Marooned on Mars
Chuck Svenson was a citizen of the Moon - and proud of it! To him, Earth, with its heavy atmosphere, even though it was the "mother" planet, was not the best place in the universe to live. As he rocketed back home from a blast off a point high in the Andes, he anxiously looked forward to the reception he'd receive at Moon City. For he was the only citizen from Earth's satellite to be selected by the United Nations' interplanetary commission as a crew member for the first ship to attempt a flight from Moon to Mars. How Chuck learned that his orders had been changed, that he was to be replaced by an earthling, started a chain of dramatic and thrilling events that ended in the weird and torturous catacombs of Mars. For the spunky teen-ager would not be cheated of the universe's greatest adventure! When the Mars-bound ship rose on a pillar of flame above the desolate lunar landscape, it carried a stowaway in its hold. What Chuck's extra weight meant to the carefully figured fuel supply, the ship's crash landing on a "lifeless" planet, the disappearance of vitally needed tools from the vicinity of the stricken ship - fill these pages with suspense and mystery. A story of bizarre adventure, MAROONED ON MARS is also the tense personal drama of a young man who shoulders the responsibility for stranding his shipmates. In a breath-taking climax, near the ruins of a long-lost civilization that suddenly comes alive with rodent-like Martians, Chuck proves the courage and bravery of one young "citizen of the Moon!"
Machines That Think
Moxon's Master - short story by Ambrose Bierce The Lost Machine - novelette by John Wyndham Rex - short story by Harl Vincent Robbie - short story by Isaac Asimov (variant of Strange Playfellow 1940) Farewell to the Master - novelette by Harry Bates Robot's Return - short story by Robert Moore Williams (variant of Robots Return) Though Dreamers Die - novelette by Lester del Rey Fulfillment - novelette by A. E. van Vogt Runaround - novelette by Isaac Asimov I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream - short story by Harlan Ellison (some editions) The Evitable Conflict - novelette by Isaac Asimov A Logic Named Joe - short story by Murray Leinster Sam Hall - novelette by Poul Anderson I Made You - short story by Walter M. Miller, Jr. [as by Walter M. Miller] Triggerman - short story by J. F. Bone War with the Robots - short story by Harry Harrison Evidence - novelette by Isaac Asimov 2066: Election Day - short story by Michael Shaara If There Were No Benny Cemoli - novelette by Philip K. Dick The Monkey Wrench - short story by Gordon R. Dickson Dial F for Frankenstein - short story by Arthur C. Clarke (variant of Dial "F" for Frankenstein 1965) The Macauley Circuit - short story by Robert Silverberg Judas - short story by John Brunner Answer - short story by Fredric Brown The Electric Ant - short story by Philip K. Dick The Bicentennial Man - novelette by Isaac Asimov Long Shot - short story by Vernor Vinge Alien Stones - novelette by Gene Wolfe Starcrossed - short story by George Zebrowski
Rocket Jockey
It wasn't his ship, or his job, or his problem ... but suddenly Jerry Blaine was behind the controls of Earth's Last Hope and blasting off for the galaxy's most savage space race. His brother Dick had planned to be the rocket jockey in the family, but a freak accident had taken him out of the running, leaving only Jerry to carry on. Now, speeding from planet to planet, moon to moon, wrestling with dangerous unknown forces of space and attempting to outwit the invidious Martian contenders, Jerry realized that what was at stake was more than a racing championship for Earth...what was at stake was his life!
Tunnel Through Time
Science fiction time travel tale for young adults. A survival story that showcases the palaeological theories of the 1960s. Two teenagers, Bob and Pete, go back through time to the Ice age to rescue Pete's father, who has not returned from a trip in Bob's father's defective time machine.
The Golden Years of Science Fiction
I, Robot - short story by Otto Binder (variant of "I, Robot" 1939) [as by Eando Binder] The Strange Flight of Richard Clayton - short story by Robert Bloch Trouble with Water - short story by H. L. Gold Cloak of Aesir - novella by John W. Campbell, Jr. [as by Don A. Stuart] The Day Is Done - short story by Lester del Rey The Ultimate Catalyst - novelette by John Taine The Gnarly Man - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp Black Destroyer - novelette by A. E. van Vogt Greater Than Gods - novelette by C. L. Moore Trends - short story by Isaac Asimov The Blue Giraffe - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp The Misguided Halo - short story by Henry Kuttner Heavy Planet - short story by Milton A. Rothman Life-Line - short story by Robert A. Heinlein Ether Breather - short story by Theodore Sturgeon Pilgrimage - novelette by Nelson S. Bond Rust - short story by Joseph E. Kelleam The Four-Sided Triangle - novelette by William F. Temple (variant of The 4-Sided Triangle) Star Bright - novelette by Jack Williamson Misfit - novelette by Robert A. Heinlein The Dwindling Sphere - short story by Willard Hawkins [as by Willard E. Hawkins] The Automatic Pistol - short story by Fritz Leiber Hindsight - short story by Jack Williamson Postpaid to Paradise - short story by Robert Arthur Into the Darkness - novelette by Ross Rocklynne Dark Mission - short story by Lester del Rey It - novelette by Theodore Sturgeon Vault of the Beast - novelette by A. E. van Vogt The Impossible Highway - short story by Oscar J. Friend Quietus - short story by Ross Rocklynne Strange Playfellow - short story by Isaac Asimov The Warrior Race - short story by L. Sprague de Camp Farewell to the Master - novelette by Harry Bates Butyl and the Breather - short story by Theodore Sturgeon The Exalted - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp Old Man Mulligan - novelette by P. Schuyler Miller
The Last Man on Earth
The Underdweller - short story by William F. Nolan (variant of Small World) Flight to Forever - novella by Poul Anderson Trouble with Ants - novelette by Clifford D. Simak (variant of The Simple Way) The Coming of the Ice - short story by G. Peyton Wertenbaker The Most Sentimental Man - short story by Evelyn E. Smith Eddie for Short - short story by Wallace West Knock - short story by Fredric Brown Original Sin - short story by S. Fowler Wright A Man Spekith - novelette by Richard Wilson In the World's Dusk - short story by Edmond Hamilton Kindness - short story by Lester del Rey Lucifer - short story by Roger Zelazny Resurrection - short story by A. E. van Vogt (variant of The Monster 1948) The Second-Class Citizen - short story by Damon Knight Day of Judgment - short story by Edmond Hamilton Continuous Performance - short story by Gordon Eklund The New Reality - novelette by Charles L. Harness