Coroner: Heart disease killed author E. Lynn Harris, pioneer of gay black fiction

Coroner: Heart disease killed author Harris

LOS ANGELES — A coroner’s official says heart disease, complicated by high blood pressure and a hardening of the arteries, is what killed author E. Lynn Harris last week.

County coroner Craig Harvey said Wednesday that the 54-year-old died of natural causes. Harris died July 23 while visiting Los Angeles to promote his latest book.

Harris lived in Atlanta and was considered a pioneer of gay black fiction, enjoying unprecedented success in the genre. He wrote 11 novels, and ten of them became New York Times best-sellers.

More than four million of his books are in print.