L.J. Smith, who was the author of the ‘Vampire Diaries’ series, died at age 66 on March 8 following a ‘long bout with illness’

Author LJ Smith, whose best-selling Vampire Diaries novels were turned into a hit TV show, has died at the age of 66. Lisa Jane Smith published the original four-book series, about a love triangle involving two vampire brothers and an orphaned young woman,

L.J. Smith, the author of the Vampire Diaries novels as well as dozens of other young-adult fiction books, has died at the age of 66 after a years-long battle with a rare autoimmune disease.