Sterling E. Lanier

Sterling Edmund Lanier (December 18, 1927 – June 28, 2007) was an American editor, science fiction author and sculptor. He is perhaps known best as the editor who championed the publication of Frank Herbert’s bestselling novel Dune.

Life Lanier was born on December 18, 1927, in New York City to Priscilla Thorne Taylor and Berwick Bruce Lanier. He served in the US army during War II and the Korean War, and in 1951 graduated from Harvard with an undergraduate degree in English. Lanier also studied archaeology and anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a lifelong devotee of speculative fiction and a cryptozoology enthusiast. Before beginning his literary career, Lanier worked as a research historian at the Winterthur Museum from 1958 to 1960. He was a long time member of the Save Our Bays Association of Sarasota.