Benjamin Franklin expert, Claude-Anne Lopez, dies at 92

New Haven - Author, scholar, and editor-in-chief of Yale University's Franklin papers died Friday at her New Haven home at the age of 92.

Ms. Lopez suffered from Alzheimer's disease, her son Larry Lopez, told The Associated Press. In the 1950s, she began her work at Yale's Franklin Papers as a secretary, transcribing letters in French. She faced many challenges on her to way becoming a top expert on one of America's founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, Kate Ohno, her associate editor at the Franklin Papers, told the New Haven Register. Ohno and Lopez knew one another for over 20 years. "She worked her way up the ladder against all odds and made a career for herself that was widely acknowledged and respected," Ohno said. According to The AP, Claude-Anne Lopez specialized in Ben Franklin's private life, and she wrote a handful of books about him. Her first was Mon Cher Papa: Franklin and the Ladies of Paris. Lopez also served as a consultant for Franklin biographies and other documentaries, the New Haven Register reports.