Though it happened two Fridays previous, the passing of a great author is just as haunting. Madeline L’Engle wrote some great novels, did it expertly, and for the delight of fans. A Wrinkle in Time remains one of my favorites, along side Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh and Speak, Memory by Nabokov. She tackled big themes–ground breaking ones, really–packaging them in an engaging, almost thriller paced story.
She’s also one of only two authors I’ve ever corresponded with, the other being a horror writer in Canada. To her credit, she answered the letters personally, even though they were written in terrible childish scrawl. She treated my lined paper queries as if composed with a typewriter upon the finest parchment.
And on a point closer to home, Editor person published some of L’Engle’s last books. I always wanted to meet her, but EP respected her privacy enough not to forward my fan boy request along.
Godspeed, Madeline. I loved your work. May you find the happiness and solace you deserve.
I loved “A Wrinkle in Time,” too, although I think maybe “A Swiftly Tilting Planet” was my favorite. In that one, Charles Wallace, the youngest of the Murray clan, was the protagonist. I recommend reading it, if you haven’t.
But in truth, I liked everything of hers I ever read. She crafted very engaging, very thought-provoking tales which have stuck with me through the years.
She was a master. Pure and simple.