When literary icon and gay rights advocate E. Lynn Harris passed away suddenly last year, not only did he leave a trail of brokenhearted fans, he left a procession of grieving writers whom he mentored.

The list includes Terrance Dean, Victoria Christopher Murray, James Earl Hardy and Stanley Bennett Clay. Now, Dean, Hardy and Clay have come together to pay tribute to Harris in 'Visible Lives: Three Stories in Tribute to E. Lynn Harris.'

Each story is written in the hot, engaging style about gay black men searching for love on the so-called "down low,'' a genre that Harris helped create. A cameo of the legendary bestselling author is featured in the stories, which follows Harris's signature style.

Dean, author of 'Hiding in Hip Hop,' the story of the gay culture in hip hop and Hollywood, and 'Reclaim Your Power,' spiritual meditations for men of color, said he came up with the idea for 'Invisible Lives' because he wanted to commemorate Harris's life with more than a blurb in a newspaper or online column.
"I come from the entertainment industry,'' Dean told BV on Books. " We do the Grammys to celebrate success in music and the Academy Awards to celebrate success in films. I wanted to do something like that for E. Lynn. I felt by doing a book, it would live on in his name.''

Dean said Harris had a true love of the craft of writing and of authors. Dean said Harris went above and beyond the call of duty to serve as a mentor.

"A lot of authors don't make a lot of money, but he really helped a lot of us along the way,'' Dean said. "One of the ways he helped was to provide blurbs on the back of book covers. One author told me that when E. Lynn found out she didn't have enough money to finish her book tour, he helped her pay for it. That's just how he was.''

In her foreword in 'Invisible Lives,' Murray also recounts how helpful Harris was to other authors. She also talks about how she misses his calming voice.

"It makes me so sad to think that I will never again hear, in this life, the calming voice my friend, passing on to me an encouraging word, or a silly story, or even a thought-provoking discussion about the challenges in this industry,'' she writes. "But then, in the next moment, my sadness is replaced by happiness when I think of the positive impact that Lynn had on me and countless others. It makes me smile to know that I will one day get the chance to see him again.''

In Dean's novella, 'The Intern,' he uses classic Harris-style to tell a story loosely based on his own life about an openly gay intern, Chase, and a closeted executive, Eric Sanderfield, a player for the New York Giants.

When Eric and Chase met four months ago, Eric said he was a divorcee trying to get custody of his three kids from an angry drug-addicted baby mama. And the drama unfolds in this well-done novella that is full of hubris and snappy dialogue. The novellas by Hardy and Clay are equally engaging and well written in this significant tribute to a literary icon.