Lester del Rey | Futures Past and Present

Today, June 2, is the birthday of Lester del Rey. Yes, the Del Rey imprint at Ballatine was named after him and his wife, Judy-Lynn, who were editors there for many years. Lester was the primarily the fantasy editor and Judy-Lynn the science fiction editor, if memory serves.

But Lester also wrote science fiction, and quite a bit of it before he took up the editing chores at the imprint named after him. I looked at one of his fantasies here.

For this post, I want to look at what I think is one of his best stories, and certainly one of my favorites. “My Name is Legion” is a time travel story, and while what’s going on is lost on the villain (Hitler, although he isn’t called by that name), the perceptive reader will understand the punishment he gives himself. Continue reading →

On this day in 1910, John W. Campbell entered the world. It was a very different world when he left it on July 11, 1971. He envisioned much of that world and much of what followed his passing.

John Campbell was arguably the most influential science fiction and fantasy editor of the 20th Century. (Feel free to disagree in the comments.) Campbell began writing science fiction for the pulps. At first he published space opera under his own name. Not content to be a well regarded writer in the field, he began publishing moody, thoughtful stories under the name Don A. Stuart. He took the pen name from his wife’s maiden name, Dona Stuart. His most famous story under either byline is “Who Goes There?” by Don A. Stuart, which was filmed as The Thing From Another World (1951), The Thing (1982), and The Thing (2011). Continue reading →

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Lester del Rey and Hitler

John W. Campbell, Jr. at 105