Visible Lives

Visible Lives



From a tribute to E. Lynn Harris by Terrance Dean:

Black women loved E. Lynn. For the first time he gave them a glance into a hidden world of intricate and compelling love stories between athletes and professionals, gays and men on the down-low. Black men loved E. Lynn too. His novels told our stories, in our words. He was a trailblazer, a pioneer. And, whether he recognized it or not, he carved out a unique literary niche that made publishers take notice.

He embodied the Harlem Renaissance, the spirit of the social activism of James Baldwin, the cunning and wit of Langston Hughes, the romance of Countee Cullen, and the ingenious storytelling of Zora Neal Hurston. He became the voice of the black gay community, and because of his books we were all talking about the new phenomenon to which he had introduced us. His writing about the down-low sparked a national dialogue.

In August 2003 the New York Times Magazine wrote on the topic and the floodgates opened. Magazines, newspapers, even Oprah, all dove in. E. Lynn had created a sensation but he never took credit. He merely said, “I just want to write books and tell stories that are personal to me.”

His courageousness helped to open the doors to other black gay writers such as Keith Boykin, James Earl Hardy, Stanley Bennett Clay, Fred Smith, J.L. King, Lee Hayes, Rodney Lofton, and me. Harris also influenced female writers to include gay and down low characters in their works Ð Zane, Karen E. Quinones Miller, and Victoria Christopher Murray.

E. Lynn was a movement. Before he died from a heart attack in his hotel room in Los Angeles, he was gearing up for the promotion of his newest book, Mama Dearest, and had just met with a television producer. I’m told he signed over the rights to his books to be developed for TV.

My introduction to E. Lynn, Invisible Life, was the book he had self-published and sold from the trunk of his car to salons and beauty parlors in Atlanta. Since then, 10 of his books became New York Times best sellers. The publishing world was once nearly void of contemporary black gay literature. Now it’s filled with over 4 million copies in print by Harris alone.

Over the years he often encouraged me to not be afraid to share my voice. “Boy, you got a story to tell,” he would often say. “Don’t be afraid to share it. There are many men just like you who would benefit from your words.” Like few others who’ve walked this earth, E. Lynn knew the power that comes from telling our stories. He will be missed more than he could have known.

I miss you dearly!

From VISIBLE LIVES. Copyright © 2010 by Terrance Dean. All rights reserved. Published by arrangement with Kensington Pub. Corp.