Elmore Leonard obit

 

American novelist Elmore Leonard has died

He was not on the list.

Elmore Leonard, the crime novelist whose best-sellers included Get Shorty, Freaky Deaky and Maximum Bob, died Tuesday morning at his Detroit-area home, according to statements from his longtime researcher Gregg Sutter on Twitter and to The Detroit News.

He was 87 and was recently hospitalized after a stroke.

In March 2010, NPR's Noah Adams visited Leonard at his home. As Noah wrote then, "Leonard has written 43 books, almost all of which have been optioned for films. His fans — there are many — say he's the best crime writer ever, and they can recognize any page based on the sound."

Leonard explained that sound this way:

"Well, when people ask me about my dialogue, I say 'Well, don't you hear people talking?' That's all I do. I hear a certain type of individual. I decide this is what he should be, whatever it is, and then I hear him. Well, I don't hear anybody that I can't make talk."

Leonard will also be well-remembered for his 10 Rules of Writing. USA Today listed them in 2007:

 

1. Never open a book with weather.

 

2. Avoid prologues.

 

3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.

 

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said."

 

5. Keep your exclamation points under control.

 

6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."

 

7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.

 

8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.

 

9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.

 

10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

 

Film

 

Aside from the short stories already noted, a number of Leonard's novels have been adapted as films, including Get Shorty (1990 novel, 1995 film), Out of Sight (1996 novel, 1998 film) and Rum Punch (1992 novel, 1997 film Jackie Brown). The novel 52 Pick-Up was first adapted very loosely into the 1984 film The Ambassador (1984), starring Robert Mitchum and, two years later, under its original title starring Roy Scheider. Leonard has also written several screenplays based on his novels, plus original screenplays such as Joe Kidd (1972). The film Hombre (1967), starring Paul Newman, was an adaptation of Leonard's 1961 eponymous novel. His short story "Three-Ten to Yuma" (March 1953) and novels The Big Bounce (1969) and 52 Pick-Up have each been filmed twice.

 

Other novels filmed include:

 

3:10 to Yuma (1957 film) (with Glenn Ford and Van Heflin)

Hombre (with Paul Newman)

Mr. Majestyk (with Charles Bronson)

Jackie Brown (Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert De Niro) from Rum Punch

The Big Bounce (1969 film) (with Ryan O'Neal)

Valdez Is Coming (with Burt Lancaster)

52 Pick-Up (with Roy Scheider, Ann Margaret)

Stick (with Burt Reynolds)

The Moonshine War (with Alan Alda and Patrick McGoohan)

Last Stand at Saber River (with Tom Selleck)

Gold Coast (with David Caruso)

Glitz (with Jimmy Smits)

The Ambassador (1984 American film) (Robert Mitchum, Rock Hudson, Ellen Burstyn)

Cat Chaser (with Peter Weller)

Out of Sight (George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Don Cheadle)

Touch (with Christopher Walken)

Pronto (with Peter Falk)

Be Cool (with John Travolta, Harvey Keitel, Uma Thurman)

The Big Bounce (2004 film) (with Morgan Freeman, Owen Wilson, Gary Sinese)

Killshot (Diane Lane, Mickey Rourke).

Get Shorty (with John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Danny Devito)

Freaky Deaky (with Christian Slater)

Life of Crime (Jennifer Aniston) (from The Switch)

3:10 to Yuma (2007 film) (with Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Peter Fonda)

Quentin Tarantino has optioned the right to adapt Leonard's novel Forty Lashes Less One (1972).

 

Television

In 1992, Leonard played himself in a script he wrote and, with actor Paul Lazar dramatizing a scene from the novel Swag, appeared in a humorous television short about his writing process which aired on the Byline Showtime series on Showtime Networks.

The 2010–15 FX series Justified was based around the popular Leonard character U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, from the novels Pronto, Riding the Rap, the eponymous Raylan, and the short story "Fire in the Hole".

The short-lived 1998 TV series Maximum Bob was based on Leonard's 1991 novel of the same name. It aired on ABC for seven episodes and starred Beau Bridges.

The TV series Karen Sisco (2003–04) starring Carla Gugino was based on the U.S. Marshall character from the film Out of Sight (1998) played by Jennifer Lopez.

The 2017 Epix series Get Shorty is based on the novel of the same.

 

Screenplays

Year     Title            Director           Co-writers

1970    The Moonshine War     Richard Quine  

1972    Joe Kidd    John Sturges

1974    Mr. Majestyk            Richard Fleischer          

1980    High Noon, Part II (TV)     Jerry Jameson          

1985    Stick            Burt Reynolds            Joseph Stinson

1986    52 Pick-Up            John Frankenheimer            John Steppling

1987    The Rosary Murders            Fred Walton William X. Kienzle & Fred Walton

Desperado (TV Movie) Virgil W. Vogel        

1989    Cat Chaser Abel Ferrara James Borelli