She turned back to me, her eyes set on mine. “One thing I didn’t want to know, that I was afraid to know: I loved you from the start.”

Well. And well. That sent my heart into my throat. Between suddenly dumbstruck and deliriously happy, all I came out with was an eloquent mumble.

– Carlo Chuchio, in Lloyd Alexander’s The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio

I finished Lloyd Alexander’s last work sometime last week. The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio was light, and in keeping with how I know Alexander’s work to be: seemingly simple, but something with great depth. I loved the characters he created, as usual — for all the short time I got to know them, by the time I ended the book I loved them all.

I was shocked when I opened my email a few days ago and read that Lloyd Alexander died last May 17 in his home in Drexel Hill, just two weeks after his wife Janine died. He was eighty-three.

He was one of my favorite authors as an adolescent, and his Chronicles of Prydain continue to be an important part of my bookshelf. I find myself always going back and reading them, for the adventure and the sheer wonder of it, and for the thought-provoking themes and quotes one can gather from the rich writing.