Goodbye to Madeleine
September 7th, 2007
Madeleine L’Engle has died.
Above all writers, she is the one I always wanted to meet. A Wrinkle in Time was the first book to make me sob, and understand how much I could come to love and identify with characters on the page. The parent of a childhood neighbor met Madeleine once, and got my paperback copy autographed for me. It says, “To Jessica, Tesser well”. I still have it, treasured and carefully stored in a safe and important place.
At 88 years old, she had lived an extraordinary life, one that included love and devotion to music, family, theatre, and of course, books - those written and read. Maybe I’ll find the wrinkle and get to meet her someday. In the meantime, tesser well, Madeleine. Tesser well.
Knowing how much her books enchanted you when you were young, I also read them…and was enchanted as well. Long before J.K. Rowling, L’Engle inspired in many, many children an appreciation of the joys to be found in reading. Many of them, like yourself, in addition to gaining a life-long love of books probably became exceptional writers as well.
In third grade, we had to write a letter to our favorite author. I selected Madeline L’Engle, because I adored her book “A Wrinkle in Time.”
Here’s why this was remarkable - she wrote me back (note -okay, perhaps one of her “people” wrote me back, but at age 7, I chose to believe). Thanked me for loving the book and encouraged me to keep reading and exploring.
I liked thinking about that today.
How ironic. Just last week I unearthed my battered old copies of A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door for one of my new fourth graders. He’s been filling me in every day on how crazy he is about them.
Love that she left behind such endearing characters. Good ol’ Charles Wallace. He’ll live on and on.
Tara