# Writer Elmore Leonard has died at age 87 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716 "2013-08-20T14:56:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/1 "2013-08-20T14:56:46Z")
Story here: [Novelist, screenwriter Elmore Leonard dies at 87](http://t.today.com/books/novelist-screenwriter-elmore-leonard-dies-87-6C10960130) A personal favorite - no one wrote dialogue like him. Thanks for all the great stories, Dutch. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/2 "2013-08-20T15:02:12Z")
When I first read him almost 40 years ago, I felt like I had found the perfect crime fiction author. Amazing dialog, great stories, irresistible pace. And his quality did not seem to diminish with time. RIP, Elmore. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/3 "2013-08-20T15:04:11Z")
“Again with the dialogue,” he griped. “Sometimes I think nobody ever even paid attention to the fucking plots.”\* RIP, Mr. Leonard. \*Not an actual quote. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/4 "2013-08-20T15:12:42Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > “Again with the dialogue,” he griped. “Sometimes I think nobody ever even paid attention to the fucking plots.”\* > > RIP, Mr. Leonard. > > \*Not an actual quote. Hey, I like his work (including his influence on “Justified”) but the plots were essentially “quirky, dysfunctional bad guys double-cross each other, mayhem ensues.” He was much stronger on character and dialogue. My favorite bit by him - a wife kills a mafia hit-man in her home, and when her husband comes home she patiently waits for him to tell the story of a speeding ticket he got before she says anything. I’ve always meant to go back and read some of his westerns, but never got around to it. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/5 "2013-08-20T15:46:55Z")
Tarantino’s _Jackie Brown_ is adapted from his book “Rum Punch.” It’s always been one of my favorite QT films. He wrote Out of Sight also, right? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/6 "2013-08-20T15:50:00Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > He wrote Out of Sight also, right? Yes. And with luck, I will go to my grave with that being the only Jennifer Lopez film I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/7 "2013-08-20T15:51:45Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > Hey, I like his work (including his influence on “Justified”) but the plots were essentially “quirky, dysfunctional bad guys double-cross each other, mayhem ensues.”… I never interpreted his books that way. I saw them as “regular folks with some guts and common sense take on the bad guys, and win.” A friend of mine once said that Leonard never used a word that an 8th grader wouldn’t recognize, which he thought was remarkable considering how good his writing was. I agree. He kept things simple and very straightforward, yet managed not to be boring or formulaic. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/8 "2013-08-20T16:06:54Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > Hey, I like his work (including his influence on “Justified”) but the plots were essentially “quirky, dysfunctional bad guys double-cross each other, mayhem ensues.” He was much stronger on character and dialogue. My favorite bit by him - a wife kills a mafia hit-man in her home, and when her husband comes home she patiently waits for him to tell the story of a speeding ticket he got before she says anything. > > I’ve always meant to go back and read some of his westerns, but never got around to it. Regarding “Justified” - I believe I recently read he was very pleased with how that series was turning out, and mentioned he was inclined to go back and write a few more Raylan stories - wonder if he started/finished any before his death. He was a damned good writer - nary a wasted word - and yes, he certainly did believe in that old concept of “plot”. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/9 "2013-08-20T16:29:49Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Yes. And with luck, I will go to my grave with that being the only Jennifer Lopez film I’ve ever seen. Off-topic, but \*Selena _and Tarsem Singh’s The Cell are both worth a watch as well. The Cell especially. Singh also did_ The Fall \*which is one of my favorite films of the last ten years. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/10 "2013-08-20T16:35:23Z")
RIP, Mr. Leonard. I’ve read about 15 of his books - always enjoyable, with believable, if somewhat eccentric characters. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/11 "2013-08-20T17:00:33Z")
The percentage of his books and stories that were adapted for movies and television is pretty astounding. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/12 "2013-08-20T18:02:10Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Regarding “Justified” - I believe I recently read he was very pleased with how that series was turning out, and mentioned he was inclined to go back and write a few more Raylan stories - wonder if he started/finished any before his death. He should have been pleased, as they are very faithful to the tone and rhythms of his work. All of them to some degree, some - like “The Fixer” - are Leonard thru-and-thru. I think my last non-electronic book purchase was one of his - Swag. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/13 "2013-08-20T18:44:28Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Regarding “Justified” - I believe I recently read he was very pleased with how that series was turning out, and mentioned he was inclined to go back and write a few more Raylan stories - wonder if he started/finished any before his death. > > He was a damned good writer - nary a wasted word - and yes, he certainly did believe in that old concept of “plot”. ‘[Raylan](http://www.amazon.com/Raylan-Novel-Elmore-Leonard/dp/0062119478/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377024195&sr=1-1&keywords=raylan)’ was recently published, I assume his last. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/14 "2013-08-20T19:14:22Z")
I’ve read all his Westerns and really enjoyed them. He lead a active life right up to the end. I’ll miss not seeing his new books come out. R.I.P. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/15 "2013-08-20T19:17:49Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Regarding “Justified” - I believe I recently read he was very pleased with how that series was turning out, and mentioned he was inclined to go back and write a few more Raylan stories - wonder if he started/finished any before his death. The novel (or series of intertwined novellas) Raylan came out after the series started, but its details were also integrated into the show. I didn’t quite agree with all the praise for his dialogue, since I often found that people in all walks of life seemed to have the same verbal ticks, and ones I myself don’t often hear in real life, like dropping the word ‘if’ in almost all conditional statements. But some of his lines were just golden. I would also not say he wasn’t formulaic. He just happened to have his own formulas. It’s almost always a bunch of knuckleheads get together in a quirky criminal enterprise and start betraying each other. There was a long time there where hardly anybody making movies seemed to be able to capture, or maybe even understand, the feel of a Leonard novel. It was about '98 I guess when you got films that seemed to get it, managed to capture the feeling that you were experiencing something cool. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/16 "2013-08-20T20:03:25Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > Hey, I like his work (including his influence on “Justified”) but the plots were essentially “quirky, dysfunctional bad guys double-cross each other, mayhem ensues.” He was much stronger on character and dialogue. My favorite bit by him - a wife kills a mafia hit-man in her home, and when her husband comes home she patiently waits for him to tell the story of a speeding ticket he got before she says anything. > > I’ve always meant to go back and read some of his westerns, but never got around to it. You should. They are also very enjoyable. Some of them were also made into motion pictures, such as _Hombre_ and _Valdez is Coming,_ as well as his short story, _3:10 to Yuma_, which got two major motion picture treatments. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/17 "2013-08-20T20:14:17Z")
Aww, man. I think some of his pulp paperback stuff, like Unknown Man #89 and some of the Raylan Givens stuff, Riding the Rap and Pronto, have fantastic character development, even in some of the “minor” characters and “villains.” But, I’m not so sure I would say that he has any real villains in any of his stories. They’re all just people trying to get by. Definitely one my favorite writers. And very prolific. I have a lot more of his stuff to read and I’m looking forward to it. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/18 "2013-08-20T20:29:53Z")
I was sorry to hear about this. He was one of those people who achieved an escape from the concept of time, in a way: his work is interesting and relevant to people of any generation, and he himself never seemed to be “an old man” despite reaching 87. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/19 "2013-08-20T21:19:56Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Yes. And with luck, I will go to my grave with that being the only Jennifer Lopez film I’ve ever seen. and on a side note; I never understood what seems to be universal hatred for this movie. I liked it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716/20 "2013-08-20T21:32:49Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > and on a side note; I never understood what seems to be universal hatred for this movie. I liked it. 🙂 I enjoyed the movie well enough to give it a 6/10. It’s Jennifer Lopez I hope to be spared. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writer-elmore-leonard-has-died-at-age-87/666716.md?page=2)