"A Wrinkle in Time" is a book that made a big impression on me. Its about three kids who use time-travel -- specifically, a tessaract, which allows one to take a shortcut through time via a time wrinkle -- and other extraordinary means to rescue two of the kids' father who has been abducted by something evil and exiled to a hellish planet of absolute conformity. It led to several sequels -- "A Wind in the Door" "A Swiftly-Tilting Planet" and others.
The author of those books Madeleine L'Engle passed away last week at the age of 88.
Here are three things I loved about her.
1. She frequently said that childrens' books were too difficult for adults to understand. Considering that Einstein’s theory of relativity and Planck’s quantum theory were the basis of "Wrinkle" she was probably right.
2. God knows her work was too difficult for the book burners to understand. "A Wrinkle in Time" is on the most-banned books list year after year. Even though Ms. L'Engle was a deeply religious woman and many of her books were based on Biblical themes, the Christian censors didn't get it, and their reaction to anything that challenges them or goes over their heads is to ban it.
3. She was married to Hugh Franklin, who played Dr. Charles Tyler on my favorite soap opera "All My Children."