Fun Facts Friday: Elmore Leonard

Elmore Leonard (11 October, 1925 – 20 August, 2013) was an American writer and screenwriter who specialized in thrillers and crime fiction.

Books by Elmore Leonard*

1. The author was born in New Orleans, LA but due to his father’s job, an employee of General Motors, the family moved around a lot, finally settling in Detroit.
2. After he graduated high-school, Mr. Leonard joined the US Navy as a Seabee, serving in the South Pacific.
3. His nickname in the Navy was “Dutch”, after pitcher Dutch Leonard – a left handed pitcher who played for the Detroit Lions.
4. After graduating from the University of Detroit with a degree in English and philosophy, Mr. Leonard start to regularly publish pulp Western novels.
5. Five of Mr. Leonard’s westerns were developed into motion pictures: The Tail T, 3:10 to Yuma, Hombre, Valdez is Coming and Joe Kidd.
6. His novel, The Big Bounce (1969) was his first crime story. Unlike other novels in the genre, this one tilted more to realistic dialogue and character driven.
7. Two authors which Mr. Leonard felt influenced him were John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway; citing Mr. Hemingway as his single most important influence.
8. Almost 30 of Mr. Leonard’s novels were made into movies including Get Shorty (1995), Jackie Brown (1997) and Out of Sight (1998).
9. In Mr. Leonard’s obituary in USA Today it was said that he had a huge influence on the next generation of crime writers.
10. Some of the awards Mr. Leonard won was the National Book Award, the Peabody Award, the Edgar Award and the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Award for outstanding achievement in American literature.

Books by Elmore Leonard*

Zohar — Man of la Book
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account