I have a friend who tells me that she was a neighbor of Elmore’s when she was growing up in Bloomfield Hills (or Birmingham or something like that).  Her family name is O’Boyle and she says that Elmore has often used names of people he knew for characters in his books, that the character Jim O’Boyle in 52 Pickup got at least his surname from her father.  Is there a pattern there?  Is Elmore’s past littered with people named Ryan and Majestyk and Ritchie and so forth?

In a word, yes.  Jack Ryan, Elmore’s character before that other guy got ahold of the name, is an old friend.  Willi Martz in Comfort to the Enemy is an old friend.  There are too many to mention, really.  Elmore has a lot of fun with names.

He also auctions off naming rights, doesn’t he? I don’t know if Elmore Leonard started it or not, but it’s become a real trend, and raised a lot of money for charities. Wasn’t Mr. Paradise an auction name?

I find the practice personally unholy and unsettling but Elmore doesn’t mind.  To my ear, random names such as auction winners can either sound stuck on or magically fit like Tony Antonelli in The Hot Kid.  The real Tony was killed in a car crash and the mother bid $17,000 to get her son’s name in.  Elmore decided to give Tony a good role which ended up being a key part of the story.

Wasn’t Mr. Paradise an auction name?

Yes, Anthony Paradiso, I believe.