RIP: Madeline L'Egle

Today, the literary world lost Madeline L'Engle, best known as the author of A Wrinkle in Time, a novel which became one of my favorite books as a preteen.

While I was most familiar with the books related to Wrinkle, I also had the unusual experience of reading an excerpt from one of her books about the Austin family as part of my grammar school reading textbook.

By the time I'd reached high school, L'Engle's influences on my own writing could be seen more readily than I'd admit to anyone at first. Our women's ensemble premiered a composer's rendition of Ms. L'Engle's poem Trinity 18; a piece which became a stock part of the group's repertoire.

Reading the obituary in today's New York Times made me equal parts sad and nostalgic; I must have read my copies of the "Time Fantasy" series to pieces within days of purchasing them. Those stories stuck with me and I'll even catch elements from them here and there in other SciFi/Fantasy books.

It's because of Madeline L'Engle that I knew about mitochondria, particle physics and time loops. I've read further on many topics, both scientific and spiritual, that have come up in her novels.

How many other authors have done that for me? How many other authors have done that for you?

In the meantime, say "good journey" to Madeline L'Engle.