Lamont Buchanan was never a well-known figure during his lifetime. He was a little known writer and magazine editor who lived a reclusive life.
However, as a fictional character he might have been the inspiration for a character that is known by most Americans.
A few years ago, an elderly woman claimed that when she was 18, Buchanan set up an interview for her with J.D. Salinger before he became famous. She said that during the interview, Salinger told her Buchanan was, in part, the inspiration for Holden Caulfield, the iconic protagonist of the Catcher in the Rye.
Two years ago, Buchanan passed away with an estate worth about $15 million, although it is not known how he got that much money.
He did not have a will or any known living relatives, so the assets are currently being held by the City of New York.
A woman has now come forward who claims to be Buchanan's aunt, as the Daily Mail reports in "California woman claims she is only living heir to $15million fortune of writer who 'served as inspiration for J. D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield character in Catcher in the Rye'."
It is not yet known whether the woman's claim to be the last living relative of the possible inspiration for Holden Caulfield is true.
Buchanan does have other relatives, but they are relatives by marriage and do not count for intestate succession purposes in New York.
If Buchanan had wanted them to inherit his assets, he would have needed to prepare a will.
Reference: Daily Mail (Sep. 30, 2017) "California woman claims she is only living heir to $15million fortune of writer who 'served as inspiration for J. D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield character in Catcher in the Rye'."
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