Author E. Lynn Harris dead at 54

African-American author E. Lynn Harris, best known for introducing the concept of ‘on the down-low” to the wider community has died in Los Angeles at the age of 54.

Originally a salesman for IBM, Harris was unable to find a publisher for his first novel, 1991’s Invisible Life, and instead took to selling the book directly from his car to saloons and African-American bookstores. The book became an underground hit and went on to find a formal publisher in 1994, the begging of Harris’ successful career.

Harris went on to write a further 10 books, with four million copies of his work being sold. Five of his books became New York Times best sellers, and his writing also appeared in a variety of publications, including Essence, the Washington Post Sunday Magazine, and Sports Illustrated.

Harris was found unconscious at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, and was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles shortly thereafter. His cause of death is not known, but he was believed to have been ill recently.

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