Guest blog post by Laurie Lane

Laurie Lane is a poet who lives on an island surrounded by beauty in Washington state. Laurie loves words and loves watching her granddaughters as they discover the delight of language.

I was Madeleine L’Engle’s assistant in the mid 1990s. In 1998, as she was nearing 80 years old, I approached her with the idea of producing one of her books in an audio format with hers as the lead voice and mine in a supporting role. She was interested in the idea and agreed to do it. Recording The Sphinx at Dawn in the Merlin Studios on Broadway in New York City with the percussionist Glen Velez on his frame drum proved to be a most remarkable experience.  It was released by Brilliance Audio in April of 2018 in this her centennial year and is available at online retail sites.

Photo: Madeleine L’Engle and Laurie Lane. Courtesy of Laurie Lane

We are told as writers to find our literary “voice.”  While reading and listening to the voices of others, we often do find our own voice. My motivation to produce The Sphinx at Dawn was so that people who loved Madeleine L’Engle and her work would not only appreciate her literary voice, but would be able to hear her own voice for the rest of their days.

She read the part of the camel in both stories “Pakkos Camel” and “The Sphinx at Dawn” and in both of those stories, the camel speaks, but when the young boy Jesus tries to talk to the camel again, the camel doesn’t speak. This was true with Madeleine and me. She spoke and I listened. Now her living voice is no longer heard.  But she still speaks and we can listen, and we can hear what she has to say to us that is so relevant to our lives and this world today. She always had a special line that she would use at book signings. For The Sphinx at Dawn it was “Listen to the camel.” As Madeleine’s friend and someone who highly respects her gift of writing, I would urge you to listen to The Sphinx at Dawn.

Listen to the camel.

Listen to Madeleine.

–Laurie B. Lane