Mark Merlis (March 9, 1950 – August 15, 2017
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', August 23, 2017.) was an American writer and health policy analyst.Mark Merlis
at glbtq.com.William Johnson
"In Remembrance: Mark Merlis"

Lambda Literary Foundation The Lambda Literary Foundation (also known as Lambda Literary) is an American LGBTQ literary organization whose mission is to nurture and advocate for LGBTQ writers, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve their legaci ...

, August 22, 2017. Accessed 23 August 23, 2017.

Biography

Born in

Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston ...

on March 9, 1950 and raised in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, Merlis attended

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

and

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. He subsequently took a job with the Maryland Department of Health to support himself while writing. In 1987, he took a job with the

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...

at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

as a social legislation specialist, and was involved in the creation of the

Ryan White Care Act The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act (Ryan White CARE Act, ) was an act of the United States Congress and is the largest federally funded program in the United States for people living with HIV/AIDS. The act made federal f ...

. Beginning in the 1990s, Merlis published a series of novels. His first novel, ''American Studies'', was published in 1994 and won the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Literature and the

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize currently has nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), his ...

Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction in 1995, and his second, '' An Arrow's Flight'', was published in 1998 and won the 1999 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction. He published two further novels during his lifetime, ''Man About Town'' in 2003 and ''JD'' in 2015. Merlis lived in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, and worked both as an author and an independent health policy consultant.

Illness and death

Merlis died on August 15, 2017, at the

Pennsylvania Hospital Pennsylvania Hospital is a Private hospital, private, non-profit, 515-bed teaching hospital located at 800 Spruce Street (Philadelphia), Spruce Street in Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia, The hospital was founded on May 11, 17 ...

in Philadelphia, from pneumonia associated with

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

. He was sixty-seven years old. He is survived by his husband of many years, Robert Ashe.

Works

*''American Studies'' (1994) *'' An Arrow's Flight'' (1998) - also published as ''Pyrrhus'' (1999) *''Man About Town'' (2003) *''JD'' (2015)

References

External links

Mark Merlis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merlis, Mark 1950 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American gay writers Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction winners People from Framingham, Massachusetts Writers from Baltimore Novelists from Massachusetts American LGBTQ novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Maryland LGBTQ people from Massachusetts