R.I.P E. Lynn Harris

via E. Lynn Harris
E. Lynn Harris was born in Flint, Michigan and raised, along with three sisters, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville where he was the school's first black yearbook editor, the first black male Razorbacks cheerleader, and the president of his fraternity. He graduated with honors with a degree in journalism.

Harris sold computers for IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and AT&T for thirteen years while living in Dallas, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. He finally quit his sales job to write his first novel, Invisible Life, and, failing to find a publisher, he published it himself in 1991 and sold it mostly at black-owned bookstores, beauty salons, and book clubs before he was "discovered" by Anchor Books. Anchor published Invisible Life as a trade paperback in 1994, and thus his career as an author officially began.

Invisible Life was followed by Just As I Am (1994), And This Too Shall Pass (1996), If This World Were Mine (1997), Abide with Me (1999), Not A Day Goes By (2000), Any Way the Wind Blows (2001), A Love of My Own (2002), I Say A Little Prayer (2006) and Just Too Good To Be True (2008), all published by Doubleday. All ten of Harris's novels have hit the New York Times bestseller list, and they have also appeared on the bestseller lists of the Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. In 2003, Harris published his first work of nonfiction, a memoir entitled What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, which was also a New York Times bestseller. Today, there are more than four million copies of his books in print, and his latest, Basketball Jones, will be released in January 2009.

Harris's writing has also appeared in Essence, Washington Post Sunday Magazine, and Sports Illustrated, as well as in the award-winning anthology Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America, Go The Way Your Blood Beats. His novella, "Money Can't Buy Me Love" was published in Got To Be Real: Four Original Love Stories. Freedom in This Village, a collection of short stories edited by Harris, was released in the fall of 2004. His short fiction appeared in Gumbo: A Celebration of African American Writers (Harlem Moon), a 2002 collection he edited with writer Marita Golden.

Harris has won numerous accolades and prizes for his work. Just As I Am was awarded the Novel of the Year Prize by the Blackboard African-American Bestsellers, Inc. If This World Were Mine was nominated for a NAACP Image Award and won the James Baldwin Award for Literary Excellence. Abide with Me was also nominated for a NAACP Image Award. His anthology Freedom in this Village won the Lambda Literary Award in 2005. In 1999, the University of Arkansas honored Harris with a Citation of Distinguished Alumni for outstanding professional achievement, and in October 2000 he was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. Over the past three years, he has also been named to Ebony's "Most Intriguing Blacks" list, Out Magazine's "Out 100" list, New York Magazine's "Gay Power 101" list, and Savoy's "100 Leaders and Heroes in Black America" list. Other honors have included the Sprague Todes Literary Award, the Harvey Milk Honorary Diploma, and The Silas Hunt Award for Outstanding Achievement from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

Harris is a member of the Board of Directors of the Hurston/Wright Foundation and the Evidence Dance Company. He is the founder of the E. Lynn Harris Better Days Foundation, a nonprofit company that provides support to aspiring writers and artists.

A popular college lecturer, Harris has spoken at Arkansas State University, Ball State University, Carnegie Mellon University, College of William and Mary, Duke University, Florida A&M, George Washington University, Hampton University, Harvard University, Kent State University, Louisiana State, Morehouse College, Ohio State, Princeton University, South Carolina State, Spelman College, Stanford University, Tennessee State University, Tufts University, University of Arkansas, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Illinois, University of North Texas, University of Pittsburg, University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee, University of Tennessee-Chattooga, and Virginia Tech.

He divides his time between Atlanta, Georgia, and Fayetteville, Arkansas.

E. Lynn Harris passed while here in California on a business trip doing book promotions. Details of the cause of death have not been made public.

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I am an avid reader and the literary community and just suffered the major loss of an extraordinary, gifted, and creative individual. Mr. Harris' literary genius will most certainly be missed. I appreciate his talent, work, and courage. He will truly be missed and my condolences go out to his family, friends, and fans.