Know Your History: E. Lynn Harris (June 20, 1955 – July 23, 2009)

Everette “E.” Lynn Harris (June 20, 1955 – July 23, 2009) was an American author.[1] Openly gay, he was best known for his depictions of African American men who were on the down-low and closeted. He authored ten consecutive books to make the The New York Times Best Seller list making him among the most successful African American or gay authors of his era.[2]

Born in Flint, Michigan, Harris grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas and had homes in Houston, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia and Fayetteville, Arkansas.[3] In his writings, Harris maintained a poignant motif, occasionally emotive, that incorporated vernacular and slang from popular culture.

Harris became the first black male cheerleader while attending the University of Arkansas. After graduation, he became a computer salesman with IBM for a time.[4]

Harris was initially unable to land a book deal with a reputable publishing house for his first work, Invisible Life, so he self-published it through a vanity publisher and sold copies from his car trunk.[4] Since then, ten of his novels have achieved New York Times bestseller status.

Alongside fiction, Harris had also penned a personal memoir, What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?[4]
Harris was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Harris died on July 23, 2009 while in Los Angeles for a business meeting. He was found unconscious at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, and was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.[5][6] An autopsy determined that the cause of death was heart disease.[7]

As a tribute to Harris, several authors came together to host a national book tour for the release of Harris’s last novel, Mama Dearest. RM Johnson, Eric Jerome Dickey, Tracie Howard, Tina McElroy Ansa, Clarence Nero, and Laura Gilmore hosted the release of the novel on September 22, 2009 at Outwrite Book in Atlanta, GA. On September 25, 2009 a nationwide tour of Mama Dearest was hosted by various other authors at various venues. Authors committed to this memorial event included the likes of Dr. Bertice Berry, Kimberla Lawson Roby, ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Mary B. Morrison and more.

Sources
^ Biography at freep.com
^ Foxxe, Austin (July 8, 2003), “A Visible Life” ([dead link] – Scholar search), The Advocate, retrieved 2008-02-25
^ Vanessa Ward Hines, “Bestselling author motivates students to find themselves, live passion” The South End (Detroit) April 2005, p. 1
^ CBC Obituary (July 24, 2009)