Friday, September 7, 2007

Madeleine L'Engle, 1918-2007

When I was a teenager, I was geeky and awkward and shy. I was taller than most of the boys, and smart, and dressed in cords and plaid blouses with little ribbon ties - in the early 1980's. I read voraciously at home, and my social life was mostly fictional characters. Meg Murry and Vicky Austin were good friends to me at that time. Their creator, Madeleine L'Engle, died yesterday. If you had asked me back then who my favorite author was, I would have said Madeleine L'Engle without hesitation, even though I read dozens of books. Even into adulthood, I continued to read her, discovering her autobiographical books and her adult fiction. Her gentle inclusion of religion in her books and her writings about an afterlife, formed the beginnings of my first attempts at a personal theology.

I always meant to write her and tell her what she had meant to me during some rough patches in my life, but I never did, and now I'll never have the chance. I know what books I'll be rereading over the next few weeks.

Goodbye, Mrs. Franklin, and good luck on your next journey. Thank you.

No comments: