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You are here: Home / Books / Elmore Leonard RIP

Elmore Leonard RIP

by DougJ|  August 20, 20139:41 am| 67 Comments

This post is in: Books

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Elmore Leonard is dead at 87. My favorite passage of his, from Riding the Rap:

“ ‘No man who has ever passed a month in death cells believes in cages for beasts.’ You know who wrote that, you dumb fucks? Ezra Pound, that’s who. Ez was a very dear friend of mine.”

…

Louis found Chip in the kitchen making himself a Bloody Mary and asked him, “Who’s Ezra Pound?”

Chip said, “Ezra Pound,” stirring his drink and then pausing, “He was a heavyweight. Beat Joe Louis for the crown and lost it to Marciano. Or was it Jersey Joe Walcott?”

More prolific than my other favorite airplane reads — Hammet, Chandler, James Ellroy — and funnier, too. Too bad he won’t live to write another 45 books, but he sure had a hell of a run. If there’s one fiction writer who fits the BJ ethos, it’s Elmore Leonard, IHMO.

I’ve always mixed up James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard, and Elmore James.

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67Comments

  1. 1.

    cleek

    August 20, 2013 at 9:48 am

    Elmore James was the guy who figured out how to write a dozen songs by changing the words to Sweet Home Chicago, over and over.

  2. 2.

    Liberty60

    August 20, 2013 at 9:52 am

    Could be worse- you could mix up Elmore James, Etta James, and James O’Keefe.

  3. 3.

    Quaker in a Basement

    August 20, 2013 at 10:06 am

    I’ve always mixed up James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard, and Elmore James.

    Yup. I did it when I read this headline.

  4. 4.

    Ajabu

    August 20, 2013 at 10:09 am

    “Get Shorty” was a masterpiece. And they actually made the movie true to the book.
    The sequel “Be Cool”, not so much.
    I also highly recommend Rum Punch (from which the movie Jackie Brown was made) & Out of Sight
    (made into another good movie with Clooney & JLo)
    h/t to Mr. Leonard for a hell of a lot of reading pleasure.

  5. 5.

    Rex Everything

    August 20, 2013 at 10:09 am

    Leonard wrote a lot of stuff, but most of the later stuff was crap. His good stuff, though—my, my, my.

  6. 6.

    Dead Ernest

    August 20, 2013 at 10:10 am

    He did have a good run, and I’m all the richer for it.

    Appreciation to Elroy Jettson while we’re at it.

  7. 7.

    Felonius Monk

    August 20, 2013 at 10:13 am

    RIP – Elmore.

    I certainly hope this does not bring an end to “Justified”. Perhaps, too, I will haul out my DVD of “52 Pickup” and watch it again. Great story, great movie. Thanks, Elmore.

  8. 8.

    Culture of Truth

    August 20, 2013 at 10:16 am

    Which one played Spock?

  9. 9.

    Alexandra

    August 20, 2013 at 10:18 am

    If there’s one fiction writer who fits the BJ ethos, it’s Elmore Leonard, IHMO.

    Perhaps Carl Hiaasen too?

    Canine anal glands, a jar of mysteriously lost mustard, late night drunken confessions and wine foil art… who could resist?

  10. 10.

    Cermet

    August 20, 2013 at 10:20 am

    I always wondered why anyone would wish someone to be RIP if the person who died is 1) rather cool and 2) didn’t like the way things were run by the powers that be. Hell, what better way to enjoy death than hang around and make trouble for those SOB low life’s that make trouble for the living?

  11. 11.

    Neddie Jingo

    August 20, 2013 at 10:23 am

    Elmore Leonard ain’t got nothin’ on this, baby!

  12. 12.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    August 20, 2013 at 10:24 am

    If there’s one fiction writer who fits the BJ ethos, it’s Elmore Leonard, IHMO.

    What exactly is the BJ ethos? Whining about firebaggers or crying that a front pager isn’t puking up exactly what they want to hear?

  13. 13.

    piratedan

    August 20, 2013 at 10:27 am

    @Alexandra: I agree, I think Hiaasen fits the mold here very well.

  14. 14.

    SFAW

    August 20, 2013 at 10:30 am

    @Alexandra:
    Amen to Hiaasen.

    I have a bunch of Elmore books, only been through about half of them, guess I should finish the shelf out of respect for him.

    The first chapter of Freaky Deaky is one of my all-time favorites. Thanks for that, and everything else, Mr. Leonard.

  15. 15.

    c u n d gulag

    August 20, 2013 at 10:31 am

    I’m a late convert to him.

    To me, he was like the literary equivalent of Bruce Springsteen, whom I didn’t like way back when because he was too popular – but now realize is one of the greatest of all time!

    R.I.P. Elmore Leonard.
    I’m glad I finally realized how great and funny a writer you’d been all along!

  16. 16.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    August 20, 2013 at 10:34 am

    I tried to read Elmore Leonard a couple times, couldn’t finish.

  17. 17.

    Belafon

    August 20, 2013 at 10:36 am

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Yeah, but you forgot the meta: Whining about people whining about people…

  18. 18.

    Elizabelle

    August 20, 2013 at 10:36 am

    He still had more books in him. He was still writing.

    So, he went out still vital. Too young, at 87.

  19. 19.

    Elizabelle

    August 20, 2013 at 10:37 am

    PS: Doug: was glad to see a thread up for Elmore Leonard. Thank you.

  20. 20.

    Aimai

    August 20, 2013 at 10:39 am

    I loved Elmore. I ESP. Lived the earlier stuff before he got quite so self referential with Hollywood issues. Pagan babies was powerful, I thought.

  21. 21.

    Mudge

    August 20, 2013 at 10:40 am

    Well, Dust My Broom. Don’t forget Jake Elmore.

  22. 22.

    Paul in KY

    August 20, 2013 at 10:42 am

    @Cermet: Because they would not be ‘in Peace’?

  23. 23.

    Elizabelle

    August 20, 2013 at 10:47 am

    Elmore Leonard’s 10 rules for writing, NYT, 2001:

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

    http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/16/arts/writers-writing-easy-adverbs-exclamation-points-especially-hooptedoodle.html

    EL tried to “hooptedoodle”- proof his prose.

  24. 24.

    The Red Pen

    August 20, 2013 at 10:53 am

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    What exactly is the BJ ethos? Whining about firebaggers or crying that a front pager isn’t puking up exactly what they want to hear?

    And cats.

    Ellmore Leonard was all this and more.

  25. 25.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    August 20, 2013 at 10:55 am

    @Belafon: Is that like the old “being intolerant of intolerance makes you more intolerant” dodge?

  26. 26.

    raven

    August 20, 2013 at 10:58 am

    None better, not even close:

    “The 1967 film Hombre starring Paul Newman was an adaptation of Leonard’s novel of the same name.”

    “You ever been hungry lady? “

  27. 27.

    Southern Beale

    August 20, 2013 at 11:00 am

    Ah that’s a fucking shame. I wasn’t a huge fan, but he was a great storyteller. Wonder what he’d make of this.

  28. 28.

    Keith P.

    August 20, 2013 at 11:03 am

    Who had more books adapted to films – Elmore Leonard or Philip K. Dick?

    (I looked it up, and it’s Leonard, but both have had a lot of works put to film)

  29. 29.

    SFAW

    August 20, 2013 at 11:06 am

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Any particular reason you keep trying to start a fight about this? Or are you just doing it to “pass the time”?

  30. 30.

    raven

    August 20, 2013 at 11:15 am

    Audra Favor: I can’t imagine eating a dog and not thinking anything of it.

    John Russell: You even been hungry, lady? Not just ready for supper. Hungry enough so that your belly swells?

    Audra Favor: I wouldn’t care how hungry I got. I know I wouldn’t eat one of those camp dogs.

    John Russell: You’d eat it. You’d fight for the bones, too.

    Audra Favor: Have you ever eaten a dog, Mr. Russell?

    John Russell: Eaten one and lived like one.

    Audra Favor: Dear me.

  31. 31.

    raven

    August 20, 2013 at 11:16 am

    OR

    I been working since I was ten years old, Jessie, cleaning spittoons at a dime a day. It’s now thirty years later, and all I can see out the window here is a dirt road going nowhere. The only thing that changes the view is the spotted dog lifting his leg against the wall over there. Saturday nights, I haul out the town drunks. I get their 25-cent dinners and their rotgut liquor heaved up over the front of my one good shirt. I wear three pounds of iron strapped to my leg. That makes me fair game for any punk cowboy who’s had one too many. No, Jess, I don’t need a wife. I need out.

  32. 32.

    Dead Ernest

    August 20, 2013 at 11:25 am

    @Cermet:

    Rebel In Perpetuity ?

  33. 33.

    patroclus

    August 20, 2013 at 11:27 am

    I don’t want to shock anyone but I think I’m switching sides on the Greenwald/Snowden/Miranda/Poitras kerfluffle. I saw Rachel Maddow’s segment on this last night and journalists shouldn’t be harassed. At airports or otherwise. I still despise Dear Leader Greenwald and don’t think he’s a particularly good journalist, but he’s not Snowden. And neither are Poitras or Miranda. Thay didn’t steal classified documents and fly off to Russia or China; they’re merely reporting that Snowden did. So, I’m going to stop lambasting John for flogging this issue and I’m going to try to take Greenwald’s side on this. It’ll be hard, and I’ll probably slip up, but count me as a Dear Leader Greenwald supporter for now.

    Oh, and RIP whoever it is. And I think it’s time for detente/rapproachment with Iran, especially in light of the Mossadegh disclosures.

  34. 34.

    mai naem(mobile)

    August 20, 2013 at 11:30 am

    Rest in peace is better than rest in piss which is probably what most of us do initially, anyway.

  35. 35.

    PaulW

    August 20, 2013 at 11:34 am

    It’s been 15 years since Out Of Sight was put to film. Good Lord, when I saw it in the theaters I swore it deserved Best Picture honors. Still can’t figure out who deserved best supporting actor more, Farina or Guzman. Everyone was on their A-game. And it remains a DAMN SHAME that the movie got snubbed.

    It’s pretty much the best Date movie ever. Guys get it: Gals get it. I showed it to my friends one evening for movie sit-in night and by the hotel bar scene the couples were curled up all lovey-dovey. It’s f-cking catnip for couples.

  36. 36.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    August 20, 2013 at 11:40 am

    @SFAW: I have no idea what you are talking about.

  37. 37.

    feebog

    August 20, 2013 at 11:47 am

    A hell of a lot of movies were adapted from Elmore Leonard novels. Two in particular, 52 Pickup and Cat Chaser are worth ordering. I think I have read almost everything he wrote, western or otherwise. Some of his later stuff was not quite as good, but “The Hot Kid” is classic Leonard. RIP indeed.

  38. 38.

    Ted & Hellen

    August 20, 2013 at 11:48 am

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    What exactly is the BJ ethos? Whining about firebaggers or crying that a front pager isn’t puking up exactly what they want to hear?

    My thought upon reading this post, exactly.

    Can we get an answer?

  39. 39.

    PaulW

    August 20, 2013 at 11:52 am

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    This is the BJ ethos:
    1. FEED Tunch
    2. Love Your Pets Unconditionally
    3. Call Out the A-holes
    5. Get Everything In Its Proper Order
    4. Break For Lunch Early And Often

    Also, it’s a requirement to read more Ta-Nehisi and Digby.

  40. 40.

    Ted & Hellen

    August 20, 2013 at 11:52 am

    @patroclus:

    but count me as a Dear Leader Greenwald supporter for now.

    Straw man.

  41. 41.

    SFAW

    August 20, 2013 at 11:57 am

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    I have no idea what you are talking about.

    Of course you don’t.

  42. 42.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    August 20, 2013 at 12:00 pm

    @SFAW: It sounds like you are looking for a fight. Good luck with that. :)

  43. 43.

    raven

    August 20, 2013 at 12:02 pm

    And Jackie Brown!

  44. 44.

    scav

    August 20, 2013 at 12:09 pm

    Two OT redirecting links for those needing distraction (two moods catered to):

    Continued efforts in international reputation-building: Australian college baseball player shot and killed by ‘bored’ Oklahoma teens

    TLish pet picture, Guinea Pig and Goldfinch, accompanied by staff.

  45. 45.

    dan

    August 20, 2013 at 12:12 pm

    3:10 to Yuma.

  46. 46.

    SFAW

    August 20, 2013 at 12:15 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    It sounds like you are looking for a fight.

    Gee, I never would have figured you for a Rethug. Live and learn I guess. Or was that not projection, but rather your version of “I know you are, but what am I?”

    Toodles.

  47. 47.

    gogol's wife

    August 20, 2013 at 12:18 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Okay, that says a lot about you.

    He was a great writer. My faves are Unknown Man No. 89 (great AA scenes, by the way) and The Big Bounce. But there are so many good ones, many of which still await my first reading. Too bad summer is ending!

  48. 48.

    raven

    August 20, 2013 at 12:18 pm

    @dan: Yea, the first one especially!

  49. 49.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    August 20, 2013 at 12:22 pm

    @gogol’s wife: I know, that’s why I mentioned it. :) You’ve always gotta consider the source.

  50. 50.

    WereBear

    August 20, 2013 at 12:26 pm

    I’m so sorry to see him go, but what a run. Best dialogue writer EVER.

    He was still going strong with stuff like Pagan Babies and The Hot Kid. Finally got a TV show from his stuff that worked, Justified.

    And if anyone wishes to look up The Tall T, that was the first movie based on his work – 1957. An excellent western.

  51. 51.

    Doug Milhous J

    August 20, 2013 at 12:26 pm

    @Ted & Hellen:

    If you have to ask, you ain’t never gonna know.

  52. 52.

    SFAW

    August 20, 2013 at 12:30 pm

    @Doug Milhous J:

    If you have to ask, you ain’t never gonna know.

    Never would have figured you for a Zen kinda guy.

    Does BJ have a Buddha nature?
    (Ask a cow for the proper response.)

  53. 53.

    Yatsuno

    August 20, 2013 at 12:39 pm

    @SFAW: What is the sound of one blog clapping?

  54. 54.

    SFAW

    August 20, 2013 at 12:40 pm

    @Yatsuno:

    Fap-fap-fap?

  55. 55.

    Dave

    August 20, 2013 at 12:41 pm

    Favorite line. From the novel “Glitz”

    “Nobody said a thing. I ran outside in my underwear, got my gun, I’m coming back in a drunk standing there on the sidewalk looking at me, weaving. You know what he said?”

    “Atlantic City, 3:00 in the morning,” Dixie said, “Resorts International across the street, he told you don’t do it, it ain’t worth it. Think of your wife and kids.”

    He said, “You should have bet your underwear. You never know when your luck’ll change.”

  56. 56.

    Fort Geek

    August 20, 2013 at 1:06 pm

    So far, I’ve only read “Maximum Bob” and the Raylan Givens books, but I’ve seen several of his movies and shows.

    One of my favorites. I like that he didn’t waste a lot of time getting the story going and just stayed the hell out of the way once it was moving. I especially liked his treatment of his bad guys, where they’re just regular dumbass hoods who screw themselves up. They end up doing most of Raylan’s work for him.

    Sorry to see him go, but Elmore had a hell of a good run.

  57. 57.

    Ben Grimm

    August 20, 2013 at 1:19 pm

    Damn. First Westlake, now Leonard. I’m losing all my favorite crime writers.

    Thank Xenu there’s about 300 books between the two of them.

  58. 58.

    chromeagnomen

    August 20, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    leonard once said that part of his success was leaving out all the stuff that wasn’t interesting. no one was better at crime fiction. i wholeheartedly agree, the best dialogue writer ever.

  59. 59.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    August 20, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    Doug Dingus J: Familiar with Loren D. Estleman? He’s much, uhm, pulpier than the others you listed, but his Detroit Novels arc is pretty sweet.

  60. 60.

    danielx

    August 20, 2013 at 2:00 pm

    I’ve always mixed up James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard, and Elmore James.

    If you’re going to be confused, that’s not a bad kind of confusion. Sort of like The Right Madness.

    C.W. Sughrue…”Shoog as in sugar and rue as in rue the fuckin’ day.”

  61. 61.

    opiejeanne

    August 20, 2013 at 2:17 pm

    @Mudge: Doesn’t he play for Cleveland?

  62. 62.

    opiejeanne

    August 20, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    @Fort Geek: Just ordered Maximum Bob for my e-reader.

    We watched five of the seven episodes of Maximum Bob that summer it was on, and loved it. Was really sorry it didn’t continue, and now I’m trying to find it on DVD and the places I trust do not have it.

  63. 63.

    Jay

    August 20, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    Surprised Richard Price’s name isn’t listed with the greats you mentioned, Doug.

    Any other Price fans here?

  64. 64.

    celiadexter

    August 20, 2013 at 3:01 pm

    The first of his books I remember, and the one that made me a serious fan, was more than 30 years ago. City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, strangely, isn’t better known and wasn’t made into a movie. Get your hands on it: http://www.amazon.com/City-Primeval-High-Noon-Detroit/dp/0062191357

  65. 65.

    burnspbesq

    August 20, 2013 at 3:09 pm

    @DougJ:

    More prolific than my other favorite airplane reads — Hammet, Chandler, James Ellroy

    Robert B. Parker, Walter Mosely, Patricia Cornwell, Dale Brown, Stephen Coonts. Tony Hillerman, may he rest in peace.

    LeCarre!

  66. 66.

    MazeDancer

    August 20, 2013 at 3:26 pm

    The NYTimes has posted a lovely repeat of Elmore Leonard “On Writing” from 2001:http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/16/arts/writers-writing-easy-adverbs-exclamation-points-especially-hooptedoodle.html

    Tip #10:

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

  67. 67.

    Woody

    August 20, 2013 at 4:07 pm

    @Neddie Jingo:

    I didn’t realize I had For You Blue running as an earworm until that comment. +1 go johnny go

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