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E. Lynn Harris
"In many ways writing
saved my life.
It's my hope that sharing my experience will give hope to others who
are
learning to deal with their "difference." I want them to know they
don't have to live their lives in a permanent "don't ask, don't tell"
existence. Truth is a powerful tool..... I think there is a message
here for
anyone who has ever suffered from a lack of self-esteem, felt the pain
of
loneliness, or sought love in all the wrong places. The lessons I have
learned
are not limited to race, gender, or sexual orientation. Anyone can
learn from
my journey. Anyone can overcome a broken heart."
-E.
Lynn Harris
Biography
-Criticism
E.
Lynn Harris was born Everett Lynn Harris on June 20, 1955 in Flint,
Michigan.
He was raised and went to public elementary and high schools in Little
Rock,
Arkansas along with his three sisters. During his college years, while
attending University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, he became the first
black
editor of the school yearbook, the first black male cheerleader as well
as
president of his fraternity.
After
receiving a bachelor degree in journalism and graduating with honors,
Harris
began to work as a computer sales executive. He worked at various
places such
as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and AT&T in Dallas, Washington D.C., and
Atlanta
for 13 years. He quit this career in order to write his first book, Invisible
Life. Failing to find a publisher, Harris spent 25,000 of his own
money in
order to publish the book. He sold the book in beauty salons,
black-owned
bookstores, and book clubs. This caught the attention of Anchor Books,
and in
1994, Invisible Life was published as a paperback and
officially
launched Harris’s career into the mainstream.
Harris
has become a very popular author since the start of his career. Five of
his
novels have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list, six of them
have
sold more than one million copies, and three of his novels have been
optioned
by Hollywood production companies to be made into films. Harris has
also
created a screenplay for the remake of the 1970s film Sparkle, and has
been
tapped by Fox Television to write a pilot for a dramatic series. He has
also
appeared on Broadway in such productions as Dreamgirls and Love
Letters to America. His novels are unique in that they portray the
pain and
passion about middle class professional African Americans in today’s
society.
He has broken the taboos about Black sexuality and the lifestyles of
gay and
bisexual men. He uses his novels to realistically portray individuals
struggling to define their sexual identities. E. Lynn Harris has gone
even
farther and has published his memoirs, What Becomes of the
Brokenhearted,
which deals with his dealing with the double life of being straight by
day and
gay by night and how he finally decided to come out to the world.
Over
the last 10 years, Harris has received many awards and accolades
including
Blackboard’s Novel of the Year for Just As I Am (1996), the
James
Baldwin Award for Literary Excellence for If This World Were Mine
(1997), University of Arkansas Citation of Distinguished Alumni for
Outstanding
Professional Achievement (1997), induction into the Arkansas Black Hall
of Fame
(2000), as well as the Poets and Writers “Writers for Writing” Award
for work
with the E. Lynn Harris Better Days Foundation, a foundation he founded
in
order to provide new writers with guidance and assistance in getting
their work
published so that society is exposed and enriched by the works of these
new
authors(2002.)He has also been named Ebony’s
“Most intriguing Blacks” List, Out Magazine’s “Out 100" list, and New
York
Magazine’s “Gay Power 101" List.
Selected
Bibliography
Works
by the Author
Invisible Life (1991)
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 (July 2000)
Money Can’t Buy Me Love (December
2000)
Any Way The Wind Blows (2001)
A Love of My Own (2002)
Works About
the Author
Harris,
E. Lynn. What
Becomes of the Brokenhearted-
A Memoir. New York: Anchor Books.
Related Links
www.elynnharris.com
-
Author’s official website
http://www.bookpage.com/0308bp/lynn_harris.html
-Interview
with Jay McDonald
This page was researched and
submitted by Shanise
Brown. Please contact the editor
with any questions or
suggestions. |
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