By Jessica Carreras
E. Lynn Harris
7 p.m. April 13
Lansing Center Ballroom
Free
Tickets available through the Main Library in downtown Lansing, the South Lansing library branch or by calling (517) 367-6348
E. Lynn Harris was driving across Georgia with his assistant to get home to Arkansas when he suddenly craved Popeye's Chicken. They were returning from a vacation at Fisher Island, just off the coast of Miami, and stopped at the first Popeye's they saw. "I couldn't tell you the name of the town now if my life depended on it," the author said. "But for whatever reason, I stopped there."
Once inside, Harris ordered one leg and some coleslaw. The young woman behind the counter asked him if anyone had ever told him that he looked like someone famous. Harris, dressed inconspicuously in warm-up pants and a T-shirt, said no.
She told him that he resembled her favorite author, E. Lynn Harris. "Well, maybe that's because I am him," he told her. The Popeye's employee cried and told Harris how deeply his books had affected her life and helped her cousin come out.
"When I got back in the car, I told my assistant, 'Now I know why I do what I do,'" Harris said, "because you never know whose life you're affecting."
Born in Flint, Mich., and raised in Little Rock, Ark., Harris never imagined he would write novels that would affect people so profoundly. He never even dreamed of becoming a writer. "Where would I get a dream like that?" he said. "I didn't see any African-American writers when I was growing up. I didn't even know it was a possibility."
After graduating from the University of Arkansas with a degree in journalism, Harris took a job in sales for IBM. However, after a while he fell into a deep depression. "It came to a point where it wasn't any fun anymore and it made my life difficult," he said. Harris decided then to become a writer.
His first novel, "Invisible Life," was picked up by Anchor Books in 1994. After the release, Harris' career took off. Several of his novels were New York Times bestsellers and his novels "Not a Day Goes By" and "Any Way the Wind Blows" both debuted at number two on the list.
Harris also teaches as a writer-in-residence at the University of Arkansas, although he's currently taking a semester off to promote his newest book, a mother and son story set to be released next year.
Perhaps Harris' greatest accomplishment was his 2004 memoir, "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted," which took him seven years to write. "It was the most difficult book to write," he said. "But I felt it was important for me to do because I thought it might help somebody. They could learn from my life's journey and the experiences that I've had."
The message in many of his novels is about being comfortable with yourself and honest with others – a motto Harris lives by. "I don't ever shy around the fact that I'm gay and that my books are about gay people," he said. "I don't let people restrict me and I don't restrict myself."
More than anything, however, he wants readers to enjoy his novels. "Reading should be fun," he said. "You don't want to beat people over the head about your agenda."
Despite the entertainment value of his books, Harris hardly has a choice but to be a role model. "I hope that people see me living a healthy and happy life and that I'm doing it by being true to myself," he said. "Sometimes we have desires to do other things, but we always end up where we're supposed to be."
