UA Journalism Grad is $64,000 Question

A graduate of the University of Arkansas’ Walter J. Lemke department of journalism was mentioned Nov. 5 in a question on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” the hit ABC quiz show starring Regis Philbin.

E. Lynn Harris, who has become one of the most successful black male novelists in modern publishing history, was the subject of the question worth $64,000.

Philbin asked Michael Lowenstein of Orinda, Calif., what genre of books Harris wrote: Self-help, science-fiction, romance or mystery?

After using his “phone-a-friend lifeline,” Lowenstein correctly identified Harris as a romance novelist. After answering the next question correctly, Lowenstein walked away with $125,000.

Harris was the first black yearbook editor at UA, first black male Razorback cheerleader, and president of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He graduated with honors in 1977. After 13 years of selling computers, he published his first novel himself.

Anchor Books found the novel and published it as a trade paperback in 1994. Doubleday published his subsequent novels, all of which have been best-sellers.