She was an incredible children’s book author whose stories had a tremendous impact on me—the little Meg-like girl I was. Only Katherine Paterson’s novels were more important in the self-education of the writer I grew up to be.
A Wrinkle in Time (and its sequels, A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet) featured the first fictional protagonist I found who I wholly identified with: the bespectacled, brave, brilliant, mousy-haired Meg Murry. Also like Meg, I was an odd eldest sister with a cool, popular younger sibling and a baby brother. I found a resiliency in her that enabled me to weather a lot of tough peer stuff growing up, and I can’t be alone in this.
Meg made smart cool.
Some girls had crushes on TV show characters or movie stars; my first crush on a fictional character was on red-haired Calvin O’Keefe. Calvin’s growing love for Meg made being smart desirable.
So Ms. L’Engle’s death affects me, very deeply. I have nothing but gratitude to this wonderful woman and wonderful writer whose voice helped to build mine.
