Ask the Flying Monkey! (November 30, 2009)

Have a question about gay male entertainment? Send it to aftereltonflyingmonkey@yahoo.com! (Please include your city and state and/or country.)

Q: I am a huge fan of author E. Lynn Harris and was made very sad by his passing. What does the E. stand for? And will any of his works be made into movies? – Pat, Milwaukee, WI

The late E. Lynn Harris

A: The “E” stands for “Everette,” which is such a cool name that it’s a shame he chose to go only by his first initial.

According to BET, Harris had previously sold the movie rights to most of his twelve published books and two unreleased ones, but there is currently some confusion as to who exactly owns those rights.

Still, several books already have movies in the works, and scripts have been written for three: Not a Day Goes By, I Say a Little Prayer, and Invisible Life, which is the closest to becoming a film. There’s reportedly also a musical version of Invisible Life scheduled to open in Washington D.C. next year.

Harris himself had also written the screenplay for the remake of African American cult classic Sparkle, for Whitney Houston, but there’s no word if that will happen.

It’s all an impressive literary legacy that, according to BET, could earn his estate well over a $100 million – assuming the E. Lynn Harris multi-media “brand” is managed properly, which is a big “if,” if you ask me.

Q: I know that recently Louis van Amstel came out as gay, I have always enjoyed his dancing and was wondering how old he is. Are there any pictures of his boyfriend? -- Diane, Baltimore, MD

A: This just speaks to how difficult it is these days to identify exactly when a performer is out: when van Amstel was on Chelsea Lately in October, host Chelsea Handler casually introduced van Amstel’s boyfriend who was sitting in the audience. It sounded to me like the 37-year-old dancer-choreography was already out – or at least Handler was assuming he was.

Louis van Amstel (left) gave a shout out to his boyfriend (right)

Was he already out? Or was Handler’s introduction of the boyfriend planned beforehand as an official “coming out”? Or – this is perhaps the most interesting possibility – did Handler accidentally out him, and he just went along with it?

In any event, the only pictures of said boyfriend I could find were from that Chelsea Lately episode.

Next page! Hunks in line at National Car Rental and McDonalds.