A Circle of Friends: Remembering Madeleine L’Engle
Edited by Katherine Kirkpatrick“We don’t always know where the story is going. We don’t need to.”
—Madeleine L’Engle
Millions of readers know Madeleine L’Engle (1918–2007) as the author of internationally acclaimed books that ignited our imagination and affirmed our place in the universe, from A Wrinkle in Time to her memoirs, The Crosswicks Journal series. Some people were also privileged to have known Madeleine as a writing mentor, friend, or both. To these lucky people, Madeleine poured out her many gifts: her philosophies for living and writing, her generosity of spirit, her deeply held spiritual beliefs.
A Circle of Friends brings together the remembrances of nearly three dozen of Madeleine’s closest friends and students, including many distinguished writers and artists. Here are distillations of her writing advice, personal stories from those who knew her over a forty-year period, essays by academic writers, poems, and more. As the writers of these essays and poems explain how Madeleine transformed their lives, each one also offers insights on universal themes of love, marriage, friendship, and faith.
Madeleine once observed that stories unfold in their own time. A Circle of Friends was created in this spirit of “unfolding” as a testament to the life of a remarkable writer, teacher, and friend.
Editor’s Note:
“I consider editing this book to be one of the most worthwhile endeavors of my life. At first I was disappointed I could not find a publisher for it. Now I’m very glad I published the book myself. When you self-publish, you can make your book exactly the way you want it to be. Lulu also carries another title I self-published, a biography of my father for friends and family, called The Dale Kirkpatrick Story.”