Terrance Dean

Terrance Dean
Born	(1968-09-08)September 8, 1968 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	August 11, 2022(2022-08-11) (aged 53) Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	Author and professor
Years active	2008–2022
Notable work	Hiding in Hip-Hop

Terrance Dean (September 8, 1968 - August 11, 2022) was an author, academic, and a former MTV executive. He is best known for his 2008 memoir Hiding in Hip-Hop^[1][2][3][4] and is the author of books including Reclaim Your Power! A 30-Day Guide to Hope, Healing and Inspiration for Men of Color (2003), Straight From Your Gay Best Friend – The Straight Up Truth About Relationships, Love, and Having A Fabulous Life (2010), Visible Lives: Three Stories in Tribute to E. Lynn Harris, (2010). In 2011, Dean made his fiction debut with his novel, MOGUL. Dean was a postdoctoral fellow in Black Studies at Denison University since 2019 .^[5]

Career

Dean was a contributing writer to several anthologies including Souls of My Brothers and Always Too Soon. He wrote for VIBE, ESSENCE, XXL, Juicy Magazine, Huffington Post,^[6] The Advocate, The New York Sun, and The Tennessean.

Dean was featured in Newsweek, Ms. Magazine, Time Magazine, New York Magazine, The Observer UK, Genre, Hip Hop Weekly, and Mediatakeout.com.

Dean worked with television and film production companies such as B.E.T., Savoy Television, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros, and Sony Pictures. He worked with MTV Networks for several years aiding in the production of live award shows and events.

Dean received his PhD in religion from Vanderbilt University, where he studied the relationships between race, sexuality, sex and, gender in homiletics and liturgics.^[5][7] He previously received his BA in communications from Fisk University; Master of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt, and MA in religion from Vanderbilt. As Assistant Professor of Black Studies at Denison University, his research concerned topics including African-American religion, the African-American diaspora, Afro-futurism and the work of James Baldwin.^[5] He was appointed the first Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Scholar-in-Residence at the Columbus Museum of Art in January 2022.^[8]

Death

According to officials at Denison University, where Dean was employed, sometime in the summer of 2022, Dean was stricken with illness and briefly spent time in a hospital in Columbus, Ohio. On, August 11, 2022, Columbus police performed a wellness check in which they found Dean dead in his home. An exact cause of death was not provided.^[9]

Bibliography

• Reclaim Your Power! A 30-Day Guide to Hope, Healing and Inspiration for Men of Color (2003)
• Hiding in Hip-Hop (2008)
• Straight From Your Gay Best Friend – The Straight Up Truth About Relationships, Love, and Having A Fabulous Life (2010)
• Visible Lives: Three Stories in Tribute to E. Lynn Harris (2010)
• MOGUL (2011)

Influences

Dean cited the late Afro-American and openly gay author E. Lynn Harris as a literary influence.^[10]

References

1. Romero, Frances (May 15, 2008). "Guess Who's Gay in Hip-Hop". Time magazine. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
2. "Terrance Dean: An Invisible Life". Essence magazine. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
3. "Hidden gay life of macho hip hop stars". Guardian newspaper. May 11, 2008. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
4. Bennett, Jessica (May 15, 2008). "Exposing hip-hop's gay subculture". Newsweek. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
5. "Terrance Dean". Denison University. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
6. "Terrance Dean: Best-selling author/writer/journalist/Divinity Grad Student Vanderbilt University". Huffington Post. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
7. "Terrance Dean". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
8. "Get to Know Terrance Dean, CMA's First Aminah Robinson Scholar-in-Residence". Columbus Monthly: Features. Columbus Monthly. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
9. "Denison professor, Dispatch editorial board member Terrance Dean dead at 53". The Columbus Dispatch. August 13, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
10. "Remembering E. Lynn Harris". Essence magazine. Retrieved May 27, 2016.