Anne MacCaffrey, at a science fiction convention in nineteen-ought-something. It was my first con, I was about 18, and when I saw her, I went all goofy, went up to her and said, "I love you!" She promptly hugged me, hard, like your favorite aunt would, and I was a goner.

Interviewing cartoonist Jeff Smith (author of Bone from Cartoon Books and Scholastic) for a recent book project. It was done by phone, but just chatting about the creative process, about characters, was a real joy. BTW, My first "professional" writing was at age 11, adapting A Wrinkle in Time as a stage play for my fifth-grade class. I also played Charles Wallace.

Dave Pelzer, author of "A Child Called It" and several other books. After living such a tragic childhood, I was amazed that he was such a positive person and had such a wonderful outlook on life. I had to give him a big hug and I told him how many times I had to hug my own kids while I was reading his book.

I actually saw L'Engle at a well-known stop in Bristol, TN, where she had returned periodically. She was such a presence, and had so much joy & love. I adored seeing her. I've actually met Susan Cooper and Sharyn McCrumb too. Susan Cooper is so gracious & personalized my book beautifully. Have to say that Dean Kuipers would also be right up there for Burning Rainbow Farm and Christopher Paul Curtis, for just plain enjoying talking to people. He let me babble away to him for what seemed like hours. I'd read his grocery shopping list. ;)

I immediately went to the bookshelf I keep for my kids(which has most of my books from MY childhood on it) and found my copy of "Wrinkle In Time" and the other 3 books in the series. I have started reading it again and find myself daily transported to another place and time. Ironically, the day before Ms. L'Engle died, my nephew asked me for a good book to read as an assignment for school, I gave him one of my extra copie of "Wrinkle"

Wow, I've met so many authors over the years, it's hard to say which one is my all time favorite author encounter. I'm a big history lover, and met Natalie Zemon Davis, the author of "The Return of Martin Guerre" at my alma mater. It was like Bethanne's meeting with Ms. L'Engle, it was like a rock star had popped in to the college. I met Prof. Davis again years later, when I was in graduate school; this time, I got to spend some time with her. She was so cool, so smart, so down to earth. What I liked and admired about her was that she made history accessible to the average person. History, when it comes down to it, is people's stories, the stories of their lives, it's not high-faluting theory, it's not just names on documents in some dusty archive, it's about people who once lived, who once breathed. And that's what Prof. Davis makes clear in "Return of Martin Guerre." I admire Prof. Davis so much.

I'd be pleased if this piece took the trouble to spell Madeleine L'Engle's name correctly. Your first commenter is also wrong about the spelling of Anne McCaffrey.

I was heartbroken to hear of L'Engle's passing. The thing was, Meg was every smart little girl who had never seen herself as a heroine in a fantasy adventure. Finding her was like coming home. It's no wonder that when I finally sat down and authored my first book, it was a fantasy adventure with typically marginalized individuals as the heroes and heroines. L'Engle was the voice of hope in a questionable universe and I will miss her very much. Amy, author of The Call to Shakabaz www.wozabooks.com

Met Julia Child once; bit taller than I expected... Utterly gracious, of course, but my main worry at the moment was trying not to recall my wife's Pythonesque impression of her from a couple of days previous..