E. Lynn Harris, a pioneer of gay black fiction and a literary entrepreneur who rose from self-publishing to best-selling status died of Thursday night. Insiders believe a heart attack is the possible cause of death. He was 54.
His agent, Laura Gilmore said Harris fell ill on a train to Los Angeles and blacked out for a few minutes, but seemed fine after that.
His writing fell into several genres, including gay and lesbian fiction, African American fiction and urban fiction. But he found success in showing readers a new side of African American life: the secret world of professional, bisexual black men living as heterosexuals. Harris published 11 novels, 10 of which were on The New York Times best-seller list. There are over 4 million copies of his books in print, according to his publisher, Doubleday. His 1994 debut, “Invisible Life,” was a coming-of-age story that dealt with the then-taboo topic.
