Beloved YA and adult author Madeleine L'Engle passed away today. L'Engle was one of my absolute favorite authors when I was a teen. I read the Meg Murray books, the Polly O'Keefe books, the Vicky Austin books, and I obsessed over the characters who travel in between the "chronos" world of Vicky and the "kairos" world of the O'Keefes, even going to far as to write up family trees for her characters in my journal. I also read all of her earlier YA novels and her adult novels. I read all of these booksover and over and over again (seriously). L'Engle wrote real, believable heroines. She wrote about sex and death frankly and unashamedly, and her spirituality infused her books without being didactic, allegorical, or patriarchal (ahem! CS Lewis). She loved science and so did her female charcters.
More personally, she made me want to be a writer, and she helped me feel less scared about growing up. The debt I owe to her as a figure of inspiration is almost unparalleled. So thank you, Madeleine L'Engle.
Friday, September 07, 2007
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Dude! Really? SAD.
ReplyDeleteshe was a wonderful, thought provoking writer. I'll never forget her books, they opened me up to things I'd never conceived of!
ReplyDeleteOf all the authors I love, I have loved her the most. Her books, fiction and non-fiction, made me a better person. The way she shared her faith allowed me to except both my Christianity and everything else I believe.
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