A writer, L’Engle wrote her first story at 5. In fifth grade, she was accused of plagiarism after winning a poetry contest. Her mother dragged in scores of her hand-written stories to prove her innocence.
L’Engle went on to write more than 60 books, and is best known for her children’s books — most notably A Wrinkle in Time * (which won the Newbery Medal) and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and Many Waters.
“I think that fantasy must possess the author and simply use him,” she said. “I know that is true of A Wrinkle in Time. I cannot possibly tell you how I came to write it. It was simply a book I had to write. I had no choice. It was only after it was written that I realized what some of it meant.” The book was rejected by 26 publishers before being accepted by one willing to take a chance. It went on to sell more than 6 million copies. L’Engle died at a nursing home in Connecticut on September 6 at age 88.