Perry Moore, 1971–2011

Perry Moore admitted he suffered from a “borderline-crazy belief in the power of literature to change the universe.” Little wonder, then, that he devoted his life to telling stories. A co-producer of The Chronicles of Narnia film series, based on books by C.S. Lewis, he also wrote Hero, a novel about a gay teen superhero, which won a Lambda Literary Award for the best novel for young gay and lesbian adults.

Moore, who friends said frequently complained of back pain, died unexpectedly last week in his New York City apartment of a suspected drug overdose, said The New York Times. “No one was expecting this,” said his father, Bill Moore. Police do not suspect foul play. Born in Richmond, Va., Moore studied English literature at the University of Virginia; after graduating, he went to work for The Rosie O’Donnell Show. From there he made his way into the movie business, negotiating for the movie rights to Lewis’s Narnia series on behalf of Walden Media, a production company. He was credited as executive producer of the films.

He also had a more personal cause, said the Associated Press. A gay man himself, he had noticed that while many comic books featured gay characters, most were bit players who wound up “tortured, maimed, and killed.” Even Marvel Comics’ first gay superhero, Northstar, dies a gruesome death at the hands of the X-Men’s Wolverine. Hero was his response—a positive portrait of a gay character who fights bigotry as well as crime.

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Together with his life partner, Hunter Hill, Moore wrote and directed Lake City, a 2008 film starring Sissy Spacek as a woman who accidentally kills her young son and years later must come to grips with both the tragedy and the boy’s drug-addicted brother. At the time of his death, Moore was writing a sequel to Hero.