Elmore Leonard
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Elmore Leonard was born in 1925 and is alive and well. He has lived in Pompano Beach and North Palm Beach, dividing his time between the Detroit area and Florida. His Florida home and the settings of many of his books has us including him among our Florida authors.
He was raised during the 1930's, during the Great Depression era of John Dillinger, Ma Barker and her killer brood, Bonnie and Clyde and other nationally famous gangsters and bank robbers.
During this same era, the Detroit Tigers made it to the World Series. Leonard was influenced by these events and has had a life long interest in guns and sports.After service in World War Two, Leonard graduated from the University of Detroit. He worked for an ad agency for a few years, writing at night and on weekends.
His first success came in 1951 when Argosy magazine published his short story "Trail of the Apaches".
He published his first novel, "The Bounty Hunters", in 1953.
Leonard is famous for his strong dialogue and realism.
A number of Leonard's novels have been made into movies. Some of these include "Out of Sight", "Get Shorty" and "Rum Punch" (as the 1997 film Jackie Brown).
The 1967 film "Hombre" starring Paul Newman was an adaptation of Leonard's novel of the same name.
His short story "Three-Ten to Yuma" and book "The Big Bounce" have each been filmed twice.
Other novels filmed include: "Mr. Majestyk" (with Charles Bronson), "Valdez Is Coming" (Burt Lancaster), "52 Pick-Up" (Roy Scheider), "Stick" (Burt Reynolds), "Moonshine War" (Alan Alda), "Last Stand at Saber River" (Tom Selleck), "Gold Coast" (David Caruso), "Glitz" (Jimmy Smits), "Cat Chaser" (Peter Weller), "Touch" (Christopher Walken), "Pronto" (Peter Falk) and "Be Cool" (John Travolta).
All told, Leonard has written almost 50 novels and hundreds of short stories and essays.
In his essay, "Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing", he writes:
"My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."
His advice to writers also includes the helpful hint, "Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip."
ABOUT ELMORE LEONARD FLORIDA BOOKS
Leonard has written so many stories and novels, I'm really not sure how many of them are Florida based or at least have some Florida action.
Most of his novels are based in Detroit or Florida, so that means we include him among Florida authors on our website.
Chili Palmer is one of Leonard's characters who shows up in "Get Shorty". He is a Miami loan shark, and based on a real life friend of Leonard's.
Chili is played in the film version by John Travolta.
Here are some of the novels that I think at least have some Florida in them.
- (1980) Gold Coast
- (1981) Split Images
- (1982) Cat Chaser
- (1983) Stick
- (1983) La Brava
- (1985) Glitz
- (1990) Get Shorty
- (1991) Maximum Bob
- (1992) Rum Punch
- (1995) Riding The Rap
- (1996) Naked Came The Manatee
If you are an Elmore Leonard fan and know of Florida books that I've missed, please let me know.
His books are available at Elmore Leonard at Amazon.com
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