Author E. Lynn Harris’s personal assistant Laura Gilmore spoke with Essence.com and gave the details of Harris’s last day leading up to his death. Essence.com reports,

Last Tuesday, the former IBM executive boarded a train from Alburquerque, New Mexico, to Los Angeles for a meeting with CEO of Edmonds Entertainment Tracey Edmonds, allegedly to sell the rights to his books. During his travel, he fainted but medics aboard the train said his vital signs were okay.

Two days later while meeting with one of his students from his alma mater, University of Arkansas, where he served as an adjunct professor of English and sponsor and coach of the cheerleading squad, Harris took his final breath.

Lynn and his student were about to order some food when the student got up to turn on the TV and heard a loud thud, Harris’s personal assistant Laura Gilmore told ESSENCE.com. When he turned around Lynn was on the floor and they called the ambulance who arrived in five minutes but they weren’t able to revive him.

Harris had also completed a screenplay for a remake of the 1970’s African-American cult classic, “Sparkle” (to be produced by Warner Bros. with Deborah Martin Chase and Whitney Houston) and was  tapped by Fox Television to write the pilot of a new dramatic series.

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