The Official
Elmore Leonard Website

Archives

--Select Month-- November 2018 July 2018 October 2016 August 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004

Una commedia americana (An American Comedy)

Una commedia americana by Giulio Segato

Google Translation:

One of the favorite expressions by critics and reviewers who have a text by Leonard is the “Dickens of Detroit”. An epithet whose origin is often traced back to J. D. Reed, author of an article published in “Time” and entitled A Dickens From Detroit. In fact, the title was decided by an editor in chief of the American magazine who was not very familiar with Leonard’s novels. It is not surprising, therefore, that the expression adopted, however suggestive and captivating, is rather misleading. In the nineteenth century, however, there is another writer who seems to me more reasonable to approach Leonard, although he belongs to a different literary tradition: Honoré de Balzac with his Comédie humaine. Balzac, through all the works that go to form the Comédie, intended to compose a mosaic of the French society of his time, illustrating all the fi gures, even the most marginal, and showing man and woman in all moral transformations. of their character. This summary, although brief, could also accurately describe Leonard’s work. It is pacific that there are many differences, as is inevitable in proposing the suggestion of a comparison between authors whose respective context is radically different, above all in historical terms. Yet even the forty-four novels published by Leonard can be read as one great narrative - an American comedy! - who wants to follow the tangle of existences along the streets of the US province, through the eyes of disoriented detectives and immature and ridiculous killers. This is because, as in Balzac, every Leonard novel is plural, that is, it contains multiple stories that intertwine and recur in characters that seem to disappear into thin air and then re-emerge after many years.

****

Elmore Leonard in Hollywood Tour

Presenting a new literary bus adventure…

Debuts November 10, 2018

You know the work (Get Shorty, 52 Pick-Up, Jackie Brown, 3:10 To Yuma). Now get to know the man.

For 33 years, Gregg Sutter was author Elmore Leonard’s loyal researcher and assistant (“Elmore’s Legs” - The New Yorker), gathering the reference material and rich visual descriptions that made you feel like you were right there inside Elmore’s stories and their film adaptations.

And this November on a brand new bus adventure, Gregg Sutter is taking us back in time to tell the unusual story of Elmore Leonard in Hollywood, a revealing portrait of a commuting screenwriter who took big paychecks and constant indignities with head held high, because it meant he could go home to Detroit and write his books.

Then suddenly, with Get Shorty, Hollywood finally “got” Elmore, and Gregg Sutter was right there to tell you what it felt like. Rich with oddball characters, cool locales and creative insights you won’t find anywhere else, this tour is a must for Elmore Leonard super-fans or folks who just love Get Shorty and Jackie Brown.

The cast includes: Randolph Scott, Felicia Farr, Glenn Ford, Van Heflin, Paul Newman, Martin Ritt, Ryan O’Neal, Burt Lancaster, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Menahem Golan, Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman, Bruce Willis, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, John Travolta, Danny Devito, George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Robert Deniro, James Woods, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton and Dennis Farina.

To learn more about this debut excursion, click here

Book A Seat on Elmore Leonard in Hollywood

****

Elmore is Buried Today on His Birthday

Today would have been Elmore’s 91st Birthday..  What makes this birthday different, it is the day he is finally buried.  Elmore died over three years ago, on August 20, 2013, but it was his wish to be buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Birmingham, Michigan, a little over a mile from his house in Bloomfield Township. It took three years, but Greenwood finally opened up new plots, allowing Elmore to have his wish and be buried there.

Elmore’s ashes were interred at 10:30 AM this morning, in a brief ceremony lead in prayer by Monsignor John P. Zenz, Pastor of Holy Name Church in Birmingham.  In attendance, under a red canopy, were several members of Elmore’s family.

Elmore grave marker gives his name and the years of his birth and death.  At the bottom, is the inscription, “The Dickens of Detroit,” a phrase used to describe Elmore over the years that he actually found a bit puzzling.  In a 1997 article in the San Jose Mercury News, he said about the tag: “That has more to do with alliteration than truth, … I wonder what they would have called me if I was from Buffalo.”

For those of you planning a visit, Elmore is buried in Section G, Lot R, Grave 2.

****

Elmore Leonard Forever

Elmore Leonard
October 11, 1925 - August 20, 2013

****

Elmore Leonard Podcasts

I did 6 podcasts with Elmore between 2005 and 2007.

Enjoy.

http://www.elmoreleonard.com/podcasts/elpodcast1.mp3
http://www.elmoreleonard.com/podcasts/elpodcast2.mp3
http://www.elmoreleonard.com/podcasts/elpodcast3.mp3
http://www.elmoreleonard.com/podcasts/elpodcast4.mp3
http://www.elmoreleonard.com/podcasts/elpodcast5.mp3
http://www.elmoreleonard.com/podcasts/elpodcast6.mp3

****

The Enduring Appeal Of Elmore Leonard and Deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens

Crimespree
Richard Godwin

Elmore Leonard wrote some of the classic crime novels of the twentieth century. Notably inspired by Higgins’s THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE, (1972), Leonard was an adept dialogue writer and master of the tight scene. I’ll use Leonard’s character Raylan Givens, one of his great characters, to exemplify his use of the Western inside the body of crime fiction.

Raylan Givens first appeared in Elmore Leonard’s novel PRONTO (1993). His short story “Fire in the Hole” (2012) then became the basis for the television series Justified. He also appeared in the novels RIDING THE RAP (1995) and RAYLAN (2012), Leonard’s final work, from which several plot lines were adapted by the writers of Justified. Raylan is described as forty years old, thin, and almost perpetually wearing a cowboy hat. With his laconic style and old-fashioned views, he occupies a position somewhere between a modern law enforcer and a Western cowboy. But most of all he is a hard enforcer of the law.

Read the rest.

 

****

EPIX® Reimagines ‘Get Shorty’ for Television Produced by MGM Television

Produced by MGM Television, the Original Series is a Dark Comedy Slated to Start Production Fall 2016

May 24, 2016 05:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time
NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Premium TV network EPIX® announced today it will go into production on Get Shorty from MGM Television. Created and executive produced by Davey Holmes (“Shameless,” “In Treatment,” “Damages”), the one hour drama series is a reimagining of Elmore Leonard’s 1990 New York Times best-selling novel of the same name. Production on the series is anticipated to begin this fall and air summer 2017.

“We’re excited to be working with MGM on Get Shorty”
Tweet this
In Get Shorty, Miles Daly works as muscle for a murderous crime ring in Nevada. For the sake of his daughter, he attempts to change professions and become a movie producer, laundering money through a Hollywood film. But instead of leaving the criminal world behind, he accidentally brings it with him to Los Angeles.

“We’re excited to be working with MGM on Get Shorty,” said Mark S. Greenberg, President and CEO, EPIX. “I had the pleasure of working with Elmore Leonard early in my career and I am a big fan of his writing. Davey Holmes is a tremendous talent and has created a fantastic new series that is in the spirit of Leonard’s unique brand of social satire and strong narrative voice. Get Shorty promises to be yet another example of the type of high-end, premium TV that EPIX is committed to delivering to its subscribers.”

“Davey has created a modern-day re-envisioning of Elmore Leonard’s timeless cult classic where organized crime and Hollywood collide in very funny ways. We are thrilled to bring these irreverent characters to fans and audiences around the globe with our fantastic partners at EPIX,” said Mark Burnett, President, Television and Digital Group, MGM and Steve Stark, President, Television Development and Production, MGM.

****

Elmore Leonard: Four Later Novels - Now Available

Available Now

Elmore Leonard: Four Novels of the 1970s
Fifty-Two Pickup | Swag | Unknown Man No. 89 | The Switch
Edited by Gregg Sutter

Elmore Leonard: Four Novels of the 1980s
City Primeval | LaBrava | Glitz | Freaky Deaky
Edited by Gregg Sutter

Available, August 30, 2016

Elmore Leonard: Four Later Novels
Get Shorty | Rum Punch | Out of Sight | Tishomingo Blues
Edited by Gregg Sutter

****

Author Jim Harrison dead at 78

The Washington Post
By Hillel Italie 

(Jim and Elmore were good friends.)

NEW YORK — Jim Harrison, the fiction writer, poet, outdoorsman and reveler who wrote with gruff affection for the country’s landscape and rural life and enjoyed mainstream success in middle age with his historical saga “Legends of the Fall,” has died at age 78.

Spokeswoman Deb Seager of Grove Atlantic, Harrison’s publisher, told The Associated Press that Harrison died Saturday at his home in Patagonia, Arizona. Seager did not know the cause of death. Harrison’s wife of more than 50 years, Linda King Harrison, died last fall.

The versatile and prolific author completed more than 30 books, most recently the novella collection “The Ancient Minstrel,” and was admired worldwide. Sometimes likened to Ernest Hemingway for the range and kinds of his interests, he was a hunter and fisherman who savored his time in a cabin near his Michigan hometown, a drinker and Hollywood scriptwriter who was close friends with Jack Nicholson and came to know Sean Connery, Orson Welles and Warren Beatty among others. He was a sports writer and a man of extraordinary appetite who once polished off a 37-course lunch, a traveler and teller of tales, most famously “Legends of the Fall.”

Read more:

****

James O. Born Interviewed for Elmore Leonard Documentary

Author Jim Born Interviewed for Elmore Leonard: The Dickens of Detroit Documentary in Miami
MIAMI - Feb 29, 2016—For more than seventeen years with the U.S. Marshals Service, DEA, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Jim Born has seen just about everything Florida crime and criminals can throw at him. Elmore Leonard first met Jim Born when he was a DEA agent stationed in South Florida. Jim’s dad, Judge John Born was friends with Leonard’s close friend Judge Marvin Mounts. Jim gave Leonard technical advice on a number of books starting with Get Shorty.
For more info: http://www.dickensofdetroit.com

****

Next

Recent Posts

Elmore is Buried Today on His Birthday

Elmore Leonard Forever

Elmore Leonard Podcasts

The Enduring Appeal Of Elmore Leonard and Deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens

The Gregg Sutter Blog

Japanese FU-GO Balloon Bombs in Michigan

The Pontiac Story of Progress & Promise

Tom Morwatts on Growing Up in Detroit

Detroit Punks: Mitch Ryder

Amazon 2015 Pilots Now Online – Including Point of Honor

Even Bank Robbers Decide What Tie To Wear: The Essence Of Elmore Leonard

On Twitter