‘A Wrinkle in Time’ author L’Engle, 88, dies

HARTFORD, Conn. – Author Madeleine L’Engle, whose novel “A Wrinkle in Time” has captivated generations of schoolchildren and adults since the 1960s, has died, her publicist said Friday. She was 88.

L’Engle died Thursday at a nursing home in Litchfield, Conn.

The Newbery Medal winner wrote more than 60 books, including fantasies, poetry and memoirs, often highlighting spiritual themes and her Christian faith.

For many years, she was the writer in residence and librarian at the Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City.

Although L’Engle was often labeled a children’s author, she disliked that classification. In a 1993 interview, she said she did not write down to children.

“In my dreams, I never have an age,” she said. “I never write for any age group in mind. … When you underestimate your audience, you’re cutting yourself off from your best work.”

“A Wrinkle in Time” – which L’Engle said was rejected repeatedly before it found a publisher in 1962 – won the American Library Association’s 1963 Newbery Medal for best American children’s book. Her “A Ring of Endless Light” was a Newbery Honor Book, or medal runner-up, in 1981.

In 2004, President Bush awarded her a National Humanities Medal.