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VJ Books Presents Author Elmore Leonard!

Elmore LeonardElmore John Leonard, Jr. (October 11, 1925 _ August 20, 2013) was an American novelist and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.

Among his best-known works are Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Hombre, Mr. Majestyk, and Rum Punch (adapted for the movie Jackie Brown). Leonard's writings include short stories that became the films 3:10 to Yuma and The Tall T, as well as the current FX television series Justified.

Leonard was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Flora Amelia and Elmore John Leonard, Sr. Because his father worked as a site locator for General Motors, the family moved frequently for several years. In 1934, the family settled in Detroit.

He graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School in 1943 and immediately joined the Navy, where he served with the Seabees for three years in the South Pacific (gaining the nickname "Dutch", after pitcher Dutch Leonard). Enrolling at the University of Detroit in 1946, he pursued writing more seriously, entering his work in short story contests and sending it off to magazines. He graduated in 1950 with a bachelor's degree in English and philosophy. A year before he graduated, he got a job as a copy writer with Campbell-Ewald Advertising Agency, a position he kept for several years, writing on the side.

Leonard got his first break in the fiction market during the 1950s, regularly publishing pulp Western novels. Leonard had his first success in 1951 when Argosy published the short story "Trail of the Apaches". During the 1950s and early 1960s, he continued writing Westerns, publishing more than 30 short stories. He wrote his first novel, The Bounty Hunters, in 1953 and followed this with four other novels. Five of his westerns were turned into major movies before 1972: The Tall T, 3:10 to Yuma, Hombre, Valdez Is Coming, and Joe Kidd.

He went on to write seventeen novels and stories in the mystery, crime, and more topical genres which were made into movies between 1969 and 2013. You can find a selection of Elmore Leonard signed books below this biography.

Leonard spent the last years of his life with his family in Oakland County, Michigan. He suffered a stroke on July 29, 2013. On August 20, 2013, Leonard died at his home in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills of complications from the stroke. He was 87 years old. Leonard is survived by his five children, 13 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Elmore Leonard Book List and Awards
His website: www.elmoreleonard.com/index.php
Similar authors: Lee Child, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, Don Winslow
His Facebook page.
His Twitter page.

Elmore Leonard: Four Novels
*Signed First Edition

Four Novels of the 1980's by Elmore Leonard

Charlie Martz and Other Stories
*Signed First Edition

Charlie Martz and Other Stories by Elmore Leonard

Djibouti
Signed First Edition


Djibouti by Elmore Leonard

Road Dogs
Signed First Edition


Road Dogs by Elmore Leonard

Up in Honey's Room
Signed First Edition


Up in Honey's Room by Elmore Leonard

The Hot Kid
Signed First Edition


The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard

Elmore Leonard Bibliography

  1. Jack Ryan
  2. The Big Bounce (1969)
  3. Swag (1976)
  4. Unknown Man No. 89 (1977)
Chili Palmer
  1. Get Shorty (1990)
  2. Be Cool (1999)
Raylan Givens
  1. Pronto (1993)
  2. Riding the Rap (1995)
  3. Raylan (2012)
Carl Webster
  1. The Hot Kid (2005)
  2. Up in Honey's Room (2007)
  3. Comfort to the Enemy (2009)
Novels
  1. The Bounty Hunters (1953)
  2. The Law at Randado (1954)
  3. Escape from Five Shadows (1956)
  4. Last Stand at Saber River (1959)
  5. Hombre (1961)
  6. The Moonshine War (1969)
  7. Valdez Is Coming (1969)
  8. Forty Lashes Less One (1972)
  9. Fifty-Two Pickup (1974)
  10. Mr. Majestyk (1974)
  11. Three-Ten to Yuma (1975)
  12. The Hunted (1977)
  13. The Switch (1978)
  14. Gold Coast (1979)
  15. Gun Sights (1979)
  16. City Primeval (1980)
  17. Split Images (1981)
  18. Cat Chaser (1982)
  19. La Brava (1983)*
  20. Stick (1983)
  21. Glitz (1985)
  22. Bandits (1986)
  23. Touch (1987)
  24. Freaky Deaky (1988)
  25. Killshot (1989)
  26. Maximum Bob (1991)
  27. Rum Punch (1992)
  28. Naked Came the Manatee (1996) (with Brian Antoni, Dave Barry, Edna Buchanan, Tananarive Due, James W. Hall, Vicki Hendricks, Carl Hiaasen, Paul Levine, Evelyn Mayerson, Edna Standiford)
  29. Out of Sight (1996)
  30. Jackie Brown (1997)
  31. Cuba Libre (1998)
  32. Pagan Babies (2000)
  33. Tishomingo Blues (2002)
  34. A Coyote's in the House (2004)
  35. Mr. Paradise (2004)
  36. Road Dogs (2009)
  37. Djibouti (2011)
Omnibus
  1. Double Dutch Treat (1985)
Collections
  1. Dutch Treat (1985)
  2. The Tonto Woman: And Other Western Storeis (1998)
  3. When the Women Come Out to Dance: And Other Stories (2002)
  4. The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard (2004)
  5. Blood Money and Other Stories (2006)
  6. Moment of Vengeance and Other Stories (2006)
  7. Three-Ten to Yuma and Other Stories (2006)
  8. The Complete Western Stories (2007)
  9. Trail of the Apache and Other Stories (2007)
  10. Charlie Martz and Other Stories (2015) (Published after Leonards's death)
  11. Elmore Leonard: Four Novels of the 1980's (2015 ) (Published after Leonard's death)
Non-fiction
  1. Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing (2007)
  2. 10 Rules of Writing (2010)
Elmore Leonard Awards
  • 1984 Edgar Allan Poe Award, Mystery Writers of America. Best Novel, 1983 for LaBrava
  • 1984 Michigan Foundation for the Arts Award.
  • 1991 North American Hammett Prize for Maximum Bob, International Association of
  • Crime Writers.
  • 1992 Grand Master Award, Mystery Writers of America.
  • 1996 Michigan Author Award.
  • 1997 Literary Lion, New York Public Library.
  • 1998 Elmore Leonard Day, January 16, 1998, decreed by Michigan Governor, John Engler.
  • 1998 International Achievement Award, ArtServe Michigan.
  • 2006 Cartier Diamond Dagger Award, UK Crime Writers Association.
  • 2006 The Louisiana Writer of the Year for 2006, The Louisiana Book Festival.
  • 2006 Raymond Chandler Award, Cormayeur (Italy) Noir in Festival.
  • 2008 F. Scott Fitzgerald Award, F. Scott Fitzgerald Conference, Rockville, MD.
  • 2009 Owen Wister Award, Western Writers of America. Oklahoma City, OK.
  • 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award, Pen USA, Beverly Hills, CA.

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