How many of you, like me, spent many an hour engrossed in the fascinating stories of the Murray family–time-traveling, wisdom-seeking, love-spreading, genius fictional family creation of best-selling author Madeleine L’Engle?
I wanted to be Meg Murray, beloved protagonist of the Newberry award-winning “A Wrinkle in Time” and other novels. The Murray family, as well as the Austin family (another fabulous set of L’Engle characters who had their own series of books), embodied those aspects that I admired as a child (and even now): Family togetherness and loyalty, belief in the power of love, belief that extraordinary things can and do happen, and pure faith in whatever was important to you.
I devoured L’Engle’s books as a child and teenager, and though I didn’t move onto her novels for adults, she remains in my small circle of favorite authors. And so I was saddened to hear that she passed away Thursday of natural causes.

L’Engle wrote more than 60 books, “including childhood fables, religious meditations and science fiction, weaved emotional tapestries transcending genre and generation,” according to Douglas Martin’s piece in the New York Times.
Her best-known and best-selling book, “A Wrinkle in Time” was revered as much as it was loathed: “The ‘St. James Guide to Children’s Writers’ called Ms. L’Engle ‘one of the truly important writers of juvenile fiction in recent decades.’ Such accolades did not come from pulling punches: ‘Wrinkle’ is one of the most banned books because of its treatment of the deity,” Martin notes.
But love conquered all in “Wrinkle,” and to me, love is faith, love is God, so I never had a problem with her books. And so what a loss this is to all of us L’engle fans.