When 54-year-old New York Times bestselling author E. Lynn Harris died this past July 23 from a heart attack, he left a noticeable void in the African-American publishing world. An openly gay man, Harris was a pioneer of sorts who self-published his first book, Invisible Life, in 1991 and set the stage for a highly successful career writing drama-filled stories primarily about the experiences of closeted gay black men. In the wake of his death, friends and colleagues rallied over the weekend in cities around the country to support the release of his last book, Mama Dearest, and in hopes of fulfilling something Harris never accomplished: reach #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
More than 12 authors—among them Terry McMillan, Eric Jerome Dickey and Mary B. Morrison—volunteered to read from the new book at bookstores in their cities and talk about their experiences with E. Lynn Harris.
A former computer salesman, Harris had come a long way from the days of selling Invisible Life from the trunk of his car and at traditional black institutions like beauty salons, barbershops and bookstores. “Nobody was willing to publish his book at first,” said Philip Rafshoon, owner and general manager of Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse, Atlanta's first gay and lesbian bookstore, where Harris held signings for nearly all of his books. “[Publishers] didn't think people wanted to know about this life,” Rafshoon added.
In 1994, however, Anchor published Invisible Life in trade paper. Harris maintained a long relationship with Doubleday, which published 12 of his books—10 of which were New York Times bestsellers. “His [impact] was immeasurable,” said Rafshoon. Rafshoon remembered that Harris's early book signings had a predominantly gay audience, but as Harris's name grew bigger, the readings attracted a diverse crowd. “You need writers like E. Lynn who can sell,” said James Fugate, co-owner of Eso Won Books in Los Angeles. “He was really helpful to a lot of black book stores in the 90s.”
For Mama Dearest, Harris switched publishers, landing at Karen Hunter Publishing, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Hunter, who had never met Harris before signing the book, said Harris was looking for a publishing house where he could feel at home since the departure of Janet Hill, his longtime editor at Doubleday. Mama Dearest, which has an announced print run of 250,000 copies, centers on Yancey Harrington Braxton, an aspiring entertainer with an explosive past, who first appeared in Harris's Not a Day Goes By, published in 2000.
Hunter added, “His previous books have mostly been formula themes: man falls in love with woman, but man has a secret. We didn't want to do the same old, same old.” The goal was to take Harris's writing to the next level. “He would joke that he wasn't a serious writer,” Hunter recalled, “but I told him he was. He just needed to throw away the formula.”
“This was his time to break out,” Hunter said. She talked to Harris a few days before his death to map out his tour and discuss marketing plans for his career. He died in Los Angeles, where he was meeting with television and film executives about his books.
After his death, Hunter admitted she didn't know what to do about promoting the book. It was author Victoria Christopher Murray, a good friend of Harris, who reached out to Hunter to assist with promotional efforts. Harris had a tremendous influence on her and other writers—aspiring and published—offering them encouragement, advice and blurbs. “His heart was huge and he had room for everybody,” Murray said.
Murray offered to rally the authors she knew to go out in their cities during the first week of sales, read from Mama Dearest and speak about their relationships with E. Lynn. Eric Jerome Dickey, Mary B. Morrison, Kimberla Lawson Roby and ReShonda Tate Billingsley immediately jumped on board; Tina McElroy Ansa in Florida; Terry McMillan in San Francisco; Mary B. Morrison in Dallas; and the list goes on. Dickey recommended that their efforts take place on the same day, at the same time. Last Friday, September 25, was declared E. Lynn Harris Day. “We're going to try our best to make him number one,” said Murray. “It is the greatest gift we can give him.”
“E. Lynn had more ahead of him than he did behind him,” Hunter said. “While he was living he hoped to bring authors together,” she added. “His death is doing just that.”
