saxikath

Two people have died in the past few days who, in very different ways, shaped my childhood and my life.

The first was Luciano Pavarotti. My parents were opera lovers, so I heard his voice from a very young age. I still get chills listening to some of his recordings, especially the earlier ones. It's been overplayed in the past few days, since his death, but he really did do amazing things to "Nessun dorma." (I watched someone ice skate to that once. I think it was Pavarotti's recording, too. Exquisite.)

The second, just announced in the past hour or two, was Madeleine L'Engle. I first encountered A Wrinkle in Time and its two immediate sequels as part of Reader's Cup, a local competition in sixth grade. (I think. Maybe fifth.) We had to read a given list of books, and then there was a quiz bowl-style competition where we had to answer questions about them. (This event introduced me to a number of the classics -- Lloyd Alexander, Bridge to Terabithia, and Tuck Everlasting, among others.)

I didn't read all of L'Engle's oeuvre, but I loved those first three (A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet). The third was particularly resonant for me, for whatever reason. But I loved all three. I wanted a mother like Mrs. Murray and a friend like Calvin.

The New York Times obituary has a quote from L'Engle saying, "Of course I was Meg." As I posted in