E. Lynn Harris, the pioneer author who introduced the world to a new literary genre by unveiling the "invisible life" of black gay men, died Thursday. Harris was a former IBM executive who decided in 1991 to write about his life and sold his first self published copies out of his car trunk at beauty salons. He wrote of the life and romance he was most familiar with, which was primarily black gay men but his biggest fans were black women. It was a matter of time before "Invisible Life" gained popularity making Harris one of the nation's most popular writers with an estimated 4 million of his work in print.

In 2000, Harris told the magazine Entertainment Weekly how important "Invisible Life" was for him.

''When I wrote "Invisible Life," it had to be the first book out of me -- it helped me to deal with my own sexuality,'' Harris said. "'For me, my 20s and early 30s were spent just hiding and running, because there was no one to tell me that my life had value and the way I felt was okay.''

E. Lynn Harris was on a business trip when died, he was age 54. R.I.P.