Sterling Edmund Lanier (December 18, 1927 – June 28, 2007) was an American editor, science fiction author and sculptor.
[1] He is perhaps known best as the editor who championed the publication of Frank Herbert’s bestselling novel Dune.
Before beginning his literary career, Lanier worked as a research historian at the Winterthur Museum from 1958 to 1960.
Having read Dune World in Analog magazine, he was responsible for tracking down the author and conveying Chilton's offer.
The most prominent of Lanier's writings are his stories of the crypto-adventurer Brigadier Donald Ffellowes (told in the "club story" style of Lord Dunsany's Jorkens tales) and the post-apocalyptic novels Hiero's Journey (1973) and The Unforsaken Hiero (1983).