Madeleine L’Engle (born: 29 November 1918 in New York; Died: 6 September 2007 in Litchfield, Connecticut, USA) was an American author of numerous books for children and adults.
Madeleine L’Engle grew up as the daughter of the journalist and author, Charles Wadsworth Camp, and the pianist Madeleine Hall Barnett Camp. L’Engle moved at the age of twelve with her parents to Europe and lived in France and Switzerland, where she spent her schooling in boarding schools. Two years later, she returned home to South Carolina, where she studied English and in 1941 she obtained her degree with honors. During her college she wrote plays and short stories. After that she briefly worked as an actress at the theater and co-worked with her later husband, the actor Hugh Franklin. After her marriage L’Engle retired from the theater and now had more time to fully and completely on writing. However, after the initial successes, most of her subsequent manuscripts were rejected by publishers. At this time, L’Engle brought their first child, Josephine, to the world.
After 1952 her husband turned back to the theater, bought a farmhouse in Connecticut and remained with the operation of a small shop. The family adopted a girl, Maria, and L’Engle still got a son, Bion. In addition to the daily tasks in the business and the education of their three small children, Madeleine L’Engle was working at night time and wrote as much as she could. About 1957, A Winter's Love was published which previously was faced with the constant rejection by the publisher. In 1960 L’Engle published the children’s book, Meet the Austins _ again after a long period of rejection. It was later one of her most popular books. At this time they returned to New York in order for her to concentrate more on her career. Finally in 1962, she published a book which no doubt was the foundation of her success: A Wrinkle in Time.
During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, L’Engle wrote dozens of books for children and adults. One of her books for adults, Two-Part Invention, was a memoir of her marriage, completed after her husband's death from cancer on September 26, 1986.
In addition to the numerous awards, medals and prizes won by individual books, L’Engle personally received many honors over the years. These included being named an Associate Dame of Justice in the Venerable Order of Saint John (1972); the USM Medallion from The University of Southern Mississippi (1978), the Smith College Award “for service to community or college which exemplifies the purposes of liberal arts education” (1981), the Sophia Award for distinction in her field (1984), the Regina Medal (1985), the ALAN Award for outstanding contribution to adolescent literature, presented by the National Council of Teachers of English (1986), and the Kerlan Award (1990).
In 1985 she was a guest speaker at the Library of Congress, giving a speech entitled “Dare to be Creative!” That same year she began a two-year term as president of the Authors Guild. In addition she received over a dozen honorary degrees from as many colleges and universities, such as Haverford College. Many of these name her as a Doctor of Humane Letters, but she was also made a Doctor of Literature and a Doctor of Sacred Theology, the latter at Berkeley Divinity School in 1984. In 1995 she was Writer in Residence for Victoria Magazine. In 2004 she received the National Humanities Medal, but could not attend the ceremony due to poor health.
In her final years, L’Engle became unable to travel or teach, due to reduced mobility from osteoporosis, and especially after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage in 2002. She also abandoned her former schedule of speaking engagements and seminars.
Madeleine L’Engle died of natural causes at a nursing facility near her Connecticut home on September 6, 2007, according to a statement by her publicist the following day. She is buried in the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan, New York City, New York