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Lloyd Alexander, one of my favorite childhood authors, died today at 83, two weeks after the death of his wife of 61 years.

I think I'm most startled by the fact that I never realized he was an American; I always assumed he was Welsh. He said that his last and forthcoming book, the Golden Dream of Carlo Ccuchio, is "his life's work." I, at least, will be buying it.

I loved his strong, spunky women, like Eilonwy and Vesper and Mickle and Nur-Jehan, who were so often more physically competent than their menfolk, and made me want to be a redhead. I loved his affectionate treatment of oddballs and misfits, like Ffleweddur Fflam, and his excellent evocations of settings ranging from ancient China to Wales to Arabia. I loved the stories of his heroes' personal growth and their reliance on the simple things - friends, families, the power of stories.

I loved Gurgi.

I read the Prydain Chronicles when I was 8; the Westmark series when I was 11, the Vesper Holly series via retsuko when I was 14. I will read them to my children.

( Some favorite quotes: )
All that writers can do is keep trying to say what is deepest in their hearts. --Lloyd Alexander