A plane crash in an Ohio cornfield has killed the parents of a former Harvard University student who lost a $500,000 book contract because parts of her first novel were copied from other works.
The small plane was leaving Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus for a trip to New Jersey when it crashed on Sunday morning, killing both people aboard.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol identifies the victims as pilot Viswanathan Rajaraman and passenger Mary Sundaram, both of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.
Rajaraman was a top neurosurgeon. Sundaram was a former physician.
Their daughter, Indian—born Kaavya Viswanathan, made headlines in 2006 because of alleged rampant plagiarism allegations against her novel, “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life.” Publisher Little, Brown and Co. cancelled her two—book contract and withdrew her novel from sale.
