So I heard on the radio today that Madeleine L'Engle died this week. I cried as I drove to the store.

A Wrinkle in Time is the first "grown-up" book I can remember reading. I was in 3rd or 4th grade I think, and allowed to use the middle school section of the school library because I had read everything in the elementary section by then. I have no idea why I picked that book, but once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. When I found other books she wrote, much later (when I actually was in middle school), I read them as fast as I could. I think A Swiftly Tilting Planet blew me away even more than Wrinkle.

Ms. L'Engle is the reason I got interested in science and space (though even Meg Murray wasn't enough to make me overcome my hatred of math). She also got me interested in writing. When I imagined myself being a writer in my younger days, I always saw myself writing like her. My early attempts were almost all in the realm of science fiction and fantasy. They were also horrible. I learned that Ms. L'Engle's style is not my style, but she was my first inspiration.

Ms. L'Engle was also the first Christian writer I read who wrote about Christian themes without smacking you over the head with those ideas. She taught me that subtle is good.

I really don't quite know what to say beyond this. She was my favorite writer, one of my favorite "famous" people. I really feel this loss, yet I know she is a far better place.

So I will just say thanks, and I will say:

BE!