E. Lynn Harris was born on June 20, 1955 in Flint, Michigan and raised, along with three sisters, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Harris self-published his first novel Invisible Life in 1991 before being picked up by Anchor, an arm of now publisher Random House. His book, Just As I Am (1995) followed shortly after.
E. Lynn's New York Times bestselling works include And This Too Shall Pass (1996), If This World Were Mine (1997), Abide With Me (1999), Not A Day Goes By (2000) and A Love of My Own (2002).
His autobiographical memoir What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted – A Memoir was published in 2003 followed by I Say a Little Prayer in 2006. What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted, Harris’s first non fiction work, debuted at #6 on the New York Times bestseller list making E. Lynn the first African American male to appear on both the fiction and non-fiction lists.
E. Lynn 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.
E. Lynn Harris - In Memoriam:
On Thursday, July 23, 2009, Harris died of cardiac arrest while on tour promoting his eleventh novel, Basketball Jones. The author was 54 years old.
Interview:
In this interview, author E. Lynn Harris talked about men on the down low, his straight female fans and the first time he admitted he was gay.
