E Lynn Harris

A meek smile animating an otherwise earnest face, E. Lynn Harris admits that when it comes to his life, he's been dabbling in a bit of expert revisionist history. No more, Harris says, palms upturned, testifying: "It's time to set a couple things straight." He pauses, but there is no smile. The pun is unintentional. Language, he knows, is a veritable minefield. Harris, 39, is in the last hard stretch of a two-month tour promoting his new book, "And This Too Shall Pass" (Doubleday).

E. Lynn Harris, a bestselling author of popular black fiction who shattered barriers by writing about gay characters in novels such as "Invisible Life" and "Just As I Am: A Novel," died Thursday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 54. Harris, who divided his time between Atlanta and Fayetteville, Ark., became ill at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills during a visit to Los Angeles, his publicist, Laura Gilmore, said Friday.

'They lived in fear, they loved in secret.' 'A new adult novel of the torments and temptations of abnormal desires.' 'An electrifying novel of a man who had an uncontrollable desire for other men!' So blazed the cover blurbs of the many paperback novels devoted to the "strange twilight world of the homosexual" that sold in drugstore book racks in the years before Stonewall.

A meek smile animating an otherwise earnest face, E. Lynn Harris admits that when it comes to his life, he's been dabbling in a bit of expert revisionist history. No more, Harris says, palms upturned, testifying: "It's time to set a couple things straight." He pauses, but there is no smile. The pun is unintentional. Language, he knows, is a veritable minefield. Harris, 39, is in the last hard stretch of a two-month tour promoting his new book, "And This Too Shall Pass" (Doubleday).

There were a number of statements with which I strongly disagreed in David Ehrenstein's piece on E. Lynn Harris' novels "Invisible Life" and "Just As I Am" (July 10)--that Harris lacks a sense of humor, that he does not movingly and convincingly deal with the subject of AIDS, that the African-American community is hostile to the gay and lesbian movement. But my overriding concern is that Ehrenstein failed to give readers of your newspaper an actual review of either book. In his rush to put his agenda on the table, the reviewer managed to write an article that maligned African Americans (gay and straight)

E. Lynn Harris, a bestselling author of popular black fiction who shattered barriers by writing about gay characters in novels such as "Invisible Life" and "Just As I Am: A Novel," died Thursday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 54. Harris, who divided his time between Atlanta and Fayetteville, Ark., became ill at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills during a visit to Los Angeles, his publicist, Laura Gilmore, said Friday.

Gena Davis, marketing consultant: "Abide With Me" by E. Lynn Harris (Doubleday). "Though his books are fiction, Harris has really opened up the issue of African American homosexuality. This is the concluding novel in a trilogy that uniquely blends intimacy, love, friendship and sexuality." **** Jill Nevins, homemaker-bookseller: "Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis De Bernieres (Vintage).

The first Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be held April 20 and 21 at UCLA's Dickson Plaza. Admission is free; parking at UCLA is $5. Times are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on April 20 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 21. A full schedule of events, ranging from author panels to children's book and poetry readings, will appear in a special section in The Times on Sunday, April 14.

There is never a dull moment or a dull character in "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates," the latest audio book from Tom Robbins. (Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio, unabridged fiction, 10 cassettes, 16 hours and 15 minutes, $39.95, read by Keith Szarabajka.) Switters is a fiercely intelligent, unabashedly eccentric CIA operative who will gleefully inform you of the popularity of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll within that government agency.

JUNE Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl Daniel Pinkwater Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pinkwater brings a magical realist perspective to YA fiction in the third volume of the series that begins with "The Yggyssey" and "The Neddiad." The Clock Without a Face Gus Twintig McSweeney's This fable for kids includes riddles and a real-life treasure hunt: Nine of the 12 emerald-encrusted clock numbers buried across the U.S. remain to be found.

There were a number of statements with which I strongly disagreed in David Ehrenstein's piece on E. Lynn Harris' novels "Invisible Life" and "Just As I Am" (July 10)--that Harris lacks a sense of humor, that he does not movingly and convincingly deal with the subject of AIDS, that the African-American community is hostile to the gay and lesbian movement. But my overriding concern is that Ehrenstein failed to give readers of your newspaper an actual review of either book. In his rush to put his agenda on the table, the reviewer managed to write an article that maligned African Americans (gay and straight)

'They lived in fear, they loved in secret.' 'A new adult novel of the torments and temptations of abnormal desires.' 'An electrifying novel of a man who had an uncontrollable desire for other men!' So blazed the cover blurbs of the many paperback novels devoted to the "strange twilight world of the homosexual" that sold in drugstore book racks in the years before Stonewall.

Traditional African American churches are not known for being tolerant of homosexuals -- especially not in the Bible Belt. But on Friday, more than 100 pastors and theologians from around the country filled Atlanta's First Iconium Baptist Church for a summit on homophobia in black churches. "We may not all agree on gay marriage, but at the very least we can say that every child of God deserves to be affirmed in the family of God," the Rev.