He was the founder of Ballantine Books, and he published the first authorized paperback editions of Lord of the Rings. He was a tireless promoter of science fiction and fantasy books and visually-oriented books for adults.
In his retirement, he was a mentor to me during the early development of Dinotopia. After I had completed the paintings “Waterfall City,” (1988) and “Dinosaur Parade” (1989), I proposed to him the idea of a picture book about a lost island of humans and dinosaurs. He encouraged me to write the book as well as illustrate it. His wife Betty served as editor for Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time, which was published by Turner Publishing in 1992.
To commemmorate his faith in books, I asked him to pose as the model for Nallab (complete with resplendant eyebrows), the third assistant librarian of Waterfall City. The head librarian is a Deinonychus named Enit, seen in the upper right of this illustration from Dinotopia: The World Beneath, 1995.“Enit” and “Nallab” spelled backwards is “Ballantine.”
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Wikipedia entry on Ian Ballantine, link.
"Nallab" on the Dinotopia Wiki, link.
Gallery of art from A Land Apart from Time, link.
Dinotopia books available from the Dinotopia Store, link.
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