Madeleine L'Engle

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
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<p>Another Smith graduate. </p>

<p>The author of "A Wrinkle in Time" died on Thursday. According to her obituary in the NY Times, "A Wrinkle in Time" was rejected by 26 publishers before being accepted by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. It was also "one of the most banned books in the United States, accused by religious conservatives of offering an inaccurate portrayal of God and nurturing in the young an unholy belief in myth and fantasy." </p>

<p>I expect a good many current Smithies grew up on Madeleine L'Engle's books. She was a truly original fantasist, long before fantasy became grist for every Tom, Dick, and Harry.</p>

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<p>Thank you, pesto.</p>

<p>Our class of 1977 was privileged to have Madeleine L'Engle as our commencement speaker, and the address she delivered was truly memorable.</p>

<p>Here's a link for those who would enjoy reading it:</p>

<p><a href="http://saqonline.smith.edu/article.epl?issue_id=18&article_id=800%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://saqonline.smith.edu/article.epl?issue_id=18&article_id=800&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>AWiT was one of the D's early favorites. I'm glad that there are so many more books these days with strong female characters. Now, if we can please work on the level of the writing and storytelling of the works they appear in....</p>

<p>And female characters are still often in the "sidekick" or "romantic interest" role. L'Engle was a pathfinder.</p>