They were friends, Mom and Madeleine L’Engle. Dear friends.

Sifting through the bulging folder of their correspondence, I can trace the history of their friendship.

They met during the 1976 Midwest Writers Workshop, when Madeleine, author of A Wrinkle in Time, served on the conference faculty (Mom would go on to do the same a decade later).

They became fast friends:

She wrote, in part: I am very grateful that you were at the Writers’ Conference and that we spoke to each other, that we share so much in common through our journey in A Circle of Quiet. I am grateful that you are a poet, and that you are willing to be vulnerable and to share. It is difficult to have favorites among the ones you sent, but my very favorite is the four-line Valentine.

And here is that poem:

Valentine

your loving me lights this day’s tunnel
each bend is a beginning now
the birds sing under stone
and ceiling rock evaporates to sky

~ joan vayo ~ September 20, 1976

Here’s part of a letter from Madeleine, dated July 19, 1978:

Happily, they found time for each other. I remember Mom calling me about their wonderful visit. She even mentioned that Madeleine’s husband, Hugh, stopped by during lunch. (I must confess that was what impressed me most at the time: actor Hugh Franklin played the long-suffering husband of matriarch Phoebe Tyler on television’s All My Children.)

Since this is Banned Books Week, let’s talk a bit about A Wrinkle in Time. Madeleine L’Engle won the Newbery Medal in 1963 for her seminal story of courage, strength, and determination.

Three decades later, though, Wrinkle was suddenly proclaimed both too religious and not religious enough.

It was the 23rd most banned or frequently-challenged book during the 1990s, according to the American Library Association.

Mom’s friend was flumoxed:

She went on to write: You find what you look for. If you look for evil, you will find evil. If you look for Satan, you will find Satan. As Christians, you will do far better to look for Christ. … it is not a good idea to read books looking for things to criticize, to put down, but to read looking for courage, for hope, and for love, and love, of course, is what Wrinkle is all about.

Madeleine concluded with: I mustn’t let myself get overly upset about irrational self-appointed censors, but must try to understand that they are frightened people who need to be responded to with prayer rather than anger.

(Search as I may, I can’t find a photo of Mom and Madeleine together. I’ll keep looking …)

In 1983, Mom arranged a speaking engagement at her alma mater.

Four years later, the school recognized Madeleine with an honorary degree. She was in the same “class” as Captain Kangaroo – Mom must have been in heaven that day!

It has delighted me no end to discover son John’s wife, Aubrie, loves A Wrinkle in Time. So does James’s sweetheart, Joanna, who is in a book club with a friend who was named for Madeleine.

I know Mom loved to talk poetry and writing with her friend Madeleine. But also, they discussed their spiritual lives. Remembering how Mom horrified me with stories about growing up in such a strict church that she wasn’t allowed to walk by another religion’s place of worship without first crossing the street, it does my heart good to know my Catholic mother and her Episcopal friend shared their ideas and beliefs freely.

They remained friends through the rest of Madeleine’s days. She was 12 years older than Mom, and passed away in 2007. Mom carefully preserved her notes, cards, letters, and books. She would never forget Madeleine, and neither will we.

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“Valentine” ©1976 joan vayo All rights reserved.

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