E. Lynn Harris: Cause of Death Revealed

The official cause of death for best-selling author E. Lynn Harris has been revealed.

According to Associated Press, a coroner's official said heart disease, complicated by high blood pressure and a hardening of the arteries, is what killed Harris.

Yesterday, county coroner Craig Harvey said that the 54-year-old died of natural causes.

The Flint, Michigan native died July 23 while visiting Los Angeles to promote his latest book. The next morning, a Doubleday/Random House executive confirmed the death to BV Newswire.

Harris, who lived in Atlanta, was considered a pioneer of gay black fiction and renowned as one of the most successful black authors of his generation.

He wrote 11 books – including 'Invisible Life,' 'This Too Shall Pass,' and 'Basketball Jones' -- since 1991 – including ten of which became New York Times best-sellers.

The former IBM executive, who had a new book planned for release later this year, had more than four million of his books are in print.

According to Harris' good friend and literary colleague Eric Jerome Dickey, a funeral will be held on Aug. 1 at Gaines Street Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas.