Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007)

We were very sorry to hear that Madeleine L'Engle, author of the mind-bogglingly awesome children's classic A Wrinkle in Time, died last Thursday. Ms. L'Engle lived to a ripe old eighty-eight, and is survived by two daughters, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

A Wrinkle in Time was rejected by 26 publishers before the wise editors at Farrar, Straus & Giroux accepted it. It went on to win the John Newbery Medal for 1963 and is now in its 69th printing. It's one of the most banned books in the United States, usually due to religious objections--ridiculous, as Ms. L'Engle was a woman of strong and openly professed faith.

I hope Ms. L'Engle was well enough a few months ago to admire the beautiful new reprints of A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels. She was a wonderful author, and will be missed.