1. Elmore Leonard was, according to British journalist Anthony Lane, "hailed as one of the best crime writers in the land".
16 Facts About Elmore Leonard
1. 2.
Elmore Leonard's writings were the basis for The Tall T, as well as the FX television series Justified and Justified: City Primeval.
3.
Elmore Leonard graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School in 1943 and, after being rejected for the Marines for weak eyesight, immediately joined the Navy, where he served with the Seabees for three years in the South Pacific, where he earned the nickname "Dutch", after Tigers pitcher Dutch Leonard.
4.
Elmore Leonard graduated in 1950 with a bachelor's degree in English and philosophy.
5.
Elmore Leonard had his first success in 1951 when Argosy magazine published his short story "Trail of the Apaches".
6.
Elmore Leonard developed his characters through dialogue, each defined by their manner of speech.
7.
LaBrava, a 1983 novel set in the latter locale, was praised in a New York Times review, which said Elmore Leonard moved from mystery suspense short story writer to novelist.
8.
Elmore Leonard believed that his books during the 1980s were becoming funnier and that he was developing a style that was more free and easy.
9.
Some of Elmore Leonard's characters appear in several novels, including mobster Chili Palmer, bank robber Jack Foley and the US Marshals Carl Webster and Raylan Givens.
10.
Elmore Leonard spent the last years of his life with his family in Oakland County, Michigan.
11.
One of Elmore Leonard's grandchildren is Alex Elmore Leonard, the drummer in the Detroit band Protomartyr.
12.
Elmore Leonard often cited Hemingway as his most important influence but criticized his lack of humor.
13.
Elmore Leonard in turn had a very strong influence on a generation of crime writers that followed him, among them George Pelecanos, Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, and Laura Lippman.
14.
Elmore Leonard can make do with a single letter, or a blank where a letter is meant to be.
15.
Elmore Leonard contributed one chapter to the 1996 Miami Herald parody serial novel Naked Came the Manatee.
16.
Elmore Leonard has written several screenplays based on his novels, plus original screenplays such as Joe Kidd.