Madeleine L'Engle was the author of more than forty-five books for
all ages, among them the beloved A Wrinkle in Time, awarded the
Newbery Medal; A Ring of Endless Light, a Newbery Honor Book; A
Swiftly Tilting Planet, winner of the American Book Award; and the
Austin family series of which Troubling a Star is the fifth book.
L'Engle was named the 1998 recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards
award, honoring her lifetime contribution in writing for teens.
Ms. L'Engle was born in 1918 in New York City. She wrote her first
book, The Small Rain, while touring with Eva Le Gallienne in Uncle
Harry. She met Hugh Franklin, to whom she was married until his
death in 1986, while they were rehearsing The Cherry Orchard, and
they were married on tour during a run of The Joyous Season,
starring Ethel Barrymore.
Ms. L'Engle retired from the stage after her marriage, and the
Franklins moved to northwest Connecticut and opened a general
store. After a decade in Connecticut, the family returned to New
York.
After splitting her time between New York City and Connecticut and
acting as the librarian and writer-in-residence at the Cathedral of
St. John the Divine, Madeleine L'Engle died on September 7, 2007 at
the age of 88.
"Madeleine L'Engle is one of the wise women not only of our time
but of the ages. She would be comfortable in the company of Sappho
and Sophocles, Dante and Chaucer, MacDonald and Dostoevsky, and
they would rejoice in hers. She understands, as they did, that,
confronted by the mysteries at the heart of the cosmos--the
mysteries of union and separation, of progress and retreat, of good
and evil--one must enlist in the struggle with all one's might and
at the same time bow in awe before the unspeakable beauty and pain
and all that is inexplicable."
--Thomas Cahill, author of How the Irish Saved Civilization, The
Gifts of the Jews, and Desire of the Everlasting Hills
"Although it would be impossible to distill into one volume all of
Madeleine L'Engle's wisdom about writing, this book comes close to
doing just that. The selections address the whole writing life and
capture those memorable expressions that are truly Madeleine. An
inspiring and helpful resource--suitable for any writer at any
stage of development."
--Vinita Hampton Wright, author of Grace at Bender Springs
and Velma Still Cooks in Leeway
"This is a work that could only have come from Madeleine L'Engle.
She is one of the few writers who has married the life of faith and
the life of art together so beautifully. There are not many
literary heroes among us, and if ever there was one, it is her.
Within L'Engle's reflections on the mystery and the craft of
writing there is more than enough wisdom to help those of us who
read it to become far better writers than we might have been
otherwise. Sometimes when you read a great writer when they write
about the art of craft itself, you want to retire immediately and
become a plumber. This book made me want to pick up my pen and go
back to work, and to work harder than I ever have before. That is
no small gift."
--Robert Benson, author of Between the Dreaming and the Coming
True
and Living Prayer
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
