Читать книгу Visible Lives: - Terrance Dean - Страница 5

Victoria Christopher Murray

When I was first asked to write the foreword to this tribute anthology, I thought it was such an honor and would be an effortless task. After all, I counted E. Lynn among my dear friends and I’d spent quite a bit of time talking to him, working with him, laughing with him. Surely this was going to be one of the easiest pieces I’d ever had to write.

Then, I sat down. And for days, I just couldn’t find the words. How do you sum up the life of a man who did so much for so many? How could I do justice to the man who meant so much to me?

It took hours—days, really—to come up with three words: faith, family, and friends. Simple words, but ones that truly describe the essence of E. Lynn Harris.

I don’t think many knew of E. Lynn’s love for the Lord as he expressed it in the acknowledgments of his last novel. But E. Lynn’s spirituality was at his center—it was his faith that made him such a gentle, caring soul who wanted to live right and live for others. It was his faith that helped him to be steadfast in his beliefs and to accept and love the many who did not accept or love him.

Then, there was E. Lynn—the family man. As quiet as it was kept, E. Lynn really could have been called a mama’s boy who expressed his love for his mother and his aunt openly and honestly. And the love he had for his son, Brandon, and his godson, Sean, who both brought years of joy to E. Lynn’s life. He couldn’t do enough for either of his sons—working hard to give them what he didn’t have growing up: the best of everything. Even as E. Lynn’s celebrity grew, his familial roots remained strong. Nothing was ever going to come before those he loved.

And finally, there were E. Lynn’s friends, although none of us ever felt that we were in the backseat in any part of his life. One of his greatest strengths was his ability to make you feel as if you were the most important person at any particular moment. Not only did his friends feel this way, but so did the thousands of readers who received personal e-mails, Christmas cards, or birthday notes from him. E. Lynn’s desire was always to stay connected—he was determined to let readers know how grateful he was for them, how aware he was that so much of his success was because of them.

It was his faith, his family, and his friends that made E. Lynn give so much of himself. I cannot count the number of authors who have E. Lynn Harris quotes on their novels, or the number of aspiring writers who have an E. Lynn Harris e-mail with a heartening word, or the number of author friends who achieved new levels of publishing success because E. Lynn passed on a good (stern) word of advice.

Just sitting and pondering all that E. Lynn has done lets me know that there are not enough words, not enough accolades that can be given to the man who arguably had the greatest professional and personal impact on the literary world in the last twenty years. He opened the eyes of an entire generation of women (and men) with his page-turning, hard-hitting novels about men on the down-low. He paved the path for many self-published authors. He helped to open publishing houses’ doors to many African American writers who would have never been given a chance before Terry McMillan and E. Lynn Harris.

But with all that I’ve said, there is one thing that I know for sure. If E. Lynn were reading this tribute right now, he would say that none of the above really matters. I can almost hear him….

“The only thing that counts, Vicki, is that people knew that I was a good son, a good father, a good friend. Did I accomplish that?”

And, I would answer him with a resounding “Yes!” E. Lynn was an amazing son, father, and friend, and so I was not surprised when these authors—Terrance Dean, Stanley Bennett Clay, and James Earl Hardy—decided to come together to do their own E. Lynn tribute to honor the man who impacted their lives…to step forward and pay their respect in the manner that E. Lynn loved so much: through the written word, through three captivating stories.

It makes me so sad to think that I will never again hear, in this life, the calming voice of 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. 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.

What a joy it is to be part of this tribute to a man who cared and loved beyond limits. Rest in peace, my dear friend. You have left a legacy of literature and love that few will ever be able to match.