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Brittany and Cynthia Daniel, who starred on the television adaptation of Sweet Valley High, have paid tribute to the creator of the beloved franchise.
Francine Pascal, the author of the Sweet Valley High books and executive producer of the television adaptation, died at age 92 on Tuesday morning following a battle with cancer.
Now Brittany and Cynthia, who played identical twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield in the television series, are remembering the woman behind the series.
‘She touched the hearts and minds of so many with her entertaining and relatable portrayals of teenage life,’ the twin sisters, age 48, said in a statement shared with People.
‘We always felt loved and appreciated by Francine. She’ll be greatly missed,’ they added.
Brittany and Cynthia Daniel, who starred on the television adaptation of Sweet Valley High, have paid tribute to the creator of the beloved franchise; Brittany and Cynthia on Sweet Valley High
In addition to authoring the book series, Pascal served as an executive producer on the TV series, which aired from 1994 to 1998.
Francine’s daughter Laurie Wenk-Pascal revealed her mother passed away aged 92 on Tuesday morning following a battle with cancer.
Immediately, the tragic news sent ripples throughout social media, as her readers posted loving tributes to the woman who ‘sparked their passion for reading.’
The book series, which followed identical twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, was a huge hit throughout the ’80s and ’90s – becoming a monumental part of many people’s childhoods.
The franchise had 181 books in total, and sparked multiple spin-offs and a TV series of the same name that aired from 1994 until 1997.
Following her death, X, formerly Twitter, was flooded with emotional messages from users who spoke about how much the book series impacted them.
Some people recalled how ‘escaping’ to the world of Sweet Valley High got them through their own problems, while others praised the author for ‘making teenagers all over the world happy.’
‘Thank you to Francine Pascal for opening my tiny little head to a world where twin sisters can be as different as night and day but still be incredibly hot in the same way,’ one person wrote.
‘Every trip to [the book store] was so exciting, with the hope that a new book in the series would be out.’
Francine Pascal, the author of the Sweet Valley High books, died at age 92 on Tuesday morning following a battle with cancer
Pascal, pictured 2014, also served as an executive producer on the Sweet Valley High television series
Francine’s daughter Laurie Wenk-Pascal revealed that she had passed away at age 92 on Tuesday morning, following a battle with cancer. The cover of her book is seen
‘I need to stop and give a shoutout to Francine Pascal,’ added another. ‘Your Sweet Valley books were such a HUGE part of my childhood, sparking my passion for reading.
‘[I followed] the journey of the twins all the way through college. Many fond memories. Thank you and RIP.’
‘RIP Francine Pascal, creator of #SweetValleyHigh and its vast universe of characters. Those books made me love reading and the art of soap opera,’ confessed someone else.
‘I read Sweet Valley High as a kid and the pull these books had on me was wild,’ read a fourth tweet.
Immediately, the heartbreaking news sent ripples throughout social media, as her readers posted loving tributes to the woman who ‘sparked their passion for reading’
‘They were hugely important to me growing up and low-key influential. I’m so sad about Francine Pascal.’
‘The chokehold that Sweet Valley twins and The Baby-Sitters Club had on me in the 1980s,’ said a fifth.
‘RIP to the author/creator of the former, Francine Pascal. What a life, and I love her attention to detail.’
‘I used to love escaping to Jessica and Elizabeth’s world in Sweet Valley High. I hope Francine knew how much her words made teenagers all over the world happy,’ gushed a different user.
Another user called the twins her ‘heroes,’ and said the Sweet Valley High books were the ‘first’ tomes that she fell in love with.
‘I read every single one of the Sweet Valley books as a girl growing up in California in the 1980s. Thank you for helping to create this lifelong reader, Francine Pascal,’ wrote a different person.
Someone else said, ‘Reading SVH books at the beach was what summer looked like for me in the late 80s.
The book series, which followed identical twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, was a huge hit throughout the ’80s and ’90s – becoming a monumental part of many people’s childhoods
‘Nerdy me adored Elizabeth. Wannabe rebel me wished they were more like Jessica. Kid m
e is really sad today.’
Francine’s daughter Laurie told the New York Times on Tuesday that her mom died of lymphoma in New York-Presbyterian Hospital over the weekend.
Francine previously described Sweet Valley High as ‘the essence of high school.’
‘It’s that moment before reality hits, when you really do believe in the romantic values – sacrifice, love, loyalty, friendship – before you get jaded and slip off into adulthood,’ she told People in 1988.
She said she started writing the Sweet Valley High books after TV networks rejected her idea for a soap opera centered on teenagers in high school.
The franchise had 181 books in total, and sparked multiple spin-offs and a TV series of the same name (seen) that aired from 1994 until 1997
She was inspired by Dallas, the hit CBS soap that followed an affluent family and their oil empire, and the twins in her life, including her then-agent and sister-in-law.
The late writer penned the first 12 books in the Sweet Valley series and then, after drafting a detailed outline, worked with a team of writers to keep up a rapid publication pace.
