Lloyd Alexander, 1924-2007

"Miss Vesper Holly has the digestive talents of a goat and the mind of a chess master. She is familiar with half a dozen languages and can swear fluently in all of them." -- The Illyrian Adventure

From the Washington Post obit:

"I used the imaginary kingdom not as a sentimentalized fairyland, but as an opening wedge to express what I hoped would be some very hard truths," he once told an interviewer. "I never saw fairy tales as an escape or a cop-out. . . . On the contrary, speaking for myself, it is the way to understand reality."

I'll post more links as I find them.

His last book, due out in August.
A Letter to the Horn Book
The Horn Book Obit (both via Read Roger)
SFScope (via Fuse)
School Library Journal
CBC
Lois Lowry
Terri Windling
2001 Interview
Lloyd Alexander Books (his website)