Bestselling YA Author Dead at 66

New York Times Best-Selling author L.J. Smith, who is best known for writing The Vampire Diaries book series, has died. She was 66 years old.

As The New York Times reports, Smith—who was born Lisa Jane Smith, but used L.J. Smith as her professional name—passed away on Saturday, March 8 in Walnut Creek, California. The author’s death came following a decade-long battle with a rare (but unnamed) autoimmune disease.

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Smith, who specialized in young adult fiction...