Black Celebrity Men

UPDATE: According to journalist Roland Martin's twitter page, E. Lynn Harris (born Everette Lynn Harris) collapsed and died of a heart attack this morning in his hotel room in Los Angeles. Martin says two days ago, Harris fainted but insisted he was fine; thereby refusing to go see a doctor. However, Harris' publicist Laura Gilmore confirmed to the Associated Press that Harris' death occurred on Thursday night at a hotel in Beverly Hills. Gilmore says a cause of death had not yet been determined. A coroners' official in Los Angeles said only that a man matching Harris' name and date of birth had died Thursday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Whatever the case, condolences to his family. He will be sorely missed.

July 2009 is becoming infamous for taking away some of entertainment's most recognized celebrities and icons including one of my all time favorite authors, E. Lynn Harris (I own and have read each and every single one of his books and memoir since 1994). According to Arktimes.com, Harris has died at the age of 54 while on a book tour on the West Coast to promote his latest novel, Basketball Jones, which tells the story about a gay lover of an NBA star. Earlier this morning, word began to spread that he'd "suffered a serious health setback" a couple of days ago. His personal assistant confirmed an unspecified health event, but said she was awaiting word from a hotel where Harris was staying on a book tour before providing further information. However, over an hour ago, Arkansas Sports reported Harris' death but didn't say how the author died.

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After the release of Basketball Jones, Harris made history by becoming the first and most successful black author of all time to have 10 consecutive novels make it onto the New York Times Best Seller's list. 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. With more than four million books in print, he originated as a self-published author -- setting the blueprint for independent authors getting picked up by major book publishers.

Harris' 13th book, Mama Dearest, which marks the return of vixen Yancey Harrington Braxton, is tentatively set to be released on Oct. 13, 2009.

Born in Michigan, Harris, an openly gay author, grew up in Little Rock. He attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he was the school's first black cheerleader. He continued to be a diehard Razorback fan. He has taught adjunct courses in the English department, most recently last fall. Harris was close to the UA Athletic Department and had worked as coach and sponsor of the cheerleaders.