In Michigan those who love Elmore Leonard call him the Dickens of Detroit. As a fifth generation Detroiter I can tell you he's the only author I've ever known who really got the city.
I tried looking up a story years ago that Leonard wrote for the Detroit News Sunday Magazine called Squad 7: Impressions of Murder but sadly all the links are broken. It was a great ten minute read to introduce a reader to Leonard.
Sadly this life long Michigan resident inexplicably gave all his papers to the University of South Carolina which is a place that he had only visited once.
Although Leonard had no connection to Carolina, he told his son Peter Leonard he wanted his papers to go to the university following a visit shortly before his death. Leonard was awarded the university’s Thomas Cooper Medal in 2013. While he was in Columbia, McNally suggested a tour of the rare book department. Leonard was especially captivated by the library’s extensive collections of Ernest Hemingway and crime fiction writer George V. Higgins
“He went to visit the library and he was blown away,” Peter Leonard said. “Elmore was a major Hemingway fan. He was the influence that got my dad to write.”
Then Sudduth showed Leonard the university’s Higgins collection, including the manuscript for “The Friends of Eddie Coyle.”
“That got dad’s attention. That book set my dad free. It really changed his outlook on writing. George Higgins was free with characters and dialogue. Hemingway and Higgins were the two influences in my father’s life,” Peter Leonard said.
The next day on the plane back to Detroit, Elmore Leonard told his son: “That’s where I want my papers to go.”
“I agreed. It’s an incredible place. What also helped was the hospitality, the friendliness of everyone,” Peter Leonard said. “That, and Hemingway and Higgins.”
I've enjoyed several of his books. Reading this makes me
want to read more of him. I hadn't realized he'd written
45 novels. That should keep me busy for quite a while.
I tried looking up a story years ago that Leonard wrote for the Detroit News Sunday Magazine called Squad 7: Impressions of Murder but sadly all the links are broken. It was a great ten minute read to introduce a reader to Leonard.
But here's a great summary of his career:
http://grantland.com/features/elmore-leonard-detroit-crime-n...
Sadly this life long Michigan resident inexplicably gave all his papers to the University of South Carolina which is a place that he had only visited once.