On This Day In History The Late, Great Crime Writer Elmore Leonard Was Born

On This day in 1925 Elmore Leonard, one of my favorite writers, was born.

The late, great crime writer was the author of Get Shorty, City Primeval, 52 Pick up and other crime classics. He died in 2013 at the age of 87.

You can read about Elmore Leonard’s life and work and watch a video clip via the below link:

 https://www.biography.com/people/elmore-leonard-575754 

You can also read my Crime Beat column on Elmore Leonard via the below link:    

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/05/return-to-elmoreland-elmore-leonards.html

On This Day In History Best-Selling Crime Writer Elmore Leonard Died

As History.com notes, on this day in 2013 Elmore Leonard, the author of  City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, 52 Pick Up, La Brava, Get Shorty, and other crime classics, died

On this day in 2013, the prolific, best-selling author Elmore Leonard, whose crime novels include “Get Shorty,” “Rum Punch” and “Out of Sight,” dies at age 87 in Bloomfield Village, Michigan. Known for his pitch-perfect dialogue, sparse prose and offbeat characters, Leonard penned dozens of novels and short stories, a number of which were adapted for film and TV.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/best-selling-crime-writer-elmore-leonard-dies?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2017-0820-08202017&om_rid=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa&om_mid=228940129&kx_EmailCampaignID=14258&kx_EmailCampaignName=email-hist-tdih-2017-0820-08202017&kx_EmailRecipientID=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa 

Elmore Leonard was one of my favorite writers. You can also read my Crime Beat column on him via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/05/return-to-elmoreland-elmore-leonards.html 

On This Day In History: Crime Writer Elmore Leonard Was Born

As History.com notes, Elmore Leonard, author of Get Shorty, 52 Pick Up and other crime classics, was born on this day in 1925.

You can read about the late, great crime novelist via the below link:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/elmore-leonard-is-born?et_cid=82082182&et_rid=1227406676&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.history.com%2fthis-day-in-history%2felmore-leonard-is-born  

You can also read my Crime Beat column on Elmore Leonard via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/05/return-to-elmoreland-elmore-leonards.html 

Once N.Y's 'Prince Of The City,' Robert Leuci Found True Calling As Writer In R.I.

Andy Smith at the Providence Journal offers a piece on Robert Leuci.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — Robert Leuci is 75 now, an adjunct professor teaching writing at the University of Rhode Island. He's written six novels, a memoir, a play, short stories, screenplays. He hasn't been a New York City cop since 1981.

But for some, he'll always be the Prince of the City, the corrupt cop who ultimately decided to expose the rot within law enforcement. In 1978, retired New York Deputy Commissioner Robert Daley told Leuci's story in his book "Prince of the City." In 1981, Sidney Lumet adapted the book into a movie of the same title, starring Treat Williams.

He looks back at his former self with mixed emotions, at best: "I have no respect for that character," he said. "There's no excuse for some of the things I did in those days ... I have five grandchildren now. They're going to read about the guy who was a corrupt cop in his day." But Leuci identifies not as a cop, or an ex-cop, but as as a writer.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150503/ENTERTAINMENTLIFE/150509883/13986/LIFESTYLE

You can also read my interview with Robert Leuci via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/05/once-prince-of-city-interview-with.html

Crime Writer Andrea Camilleri, 88, Wins Award, Takes On Imbeciles

Hector Tobar at the Los Angeles Times offers a piece on Andrea Camilleri, author of The Age of Doubt.

The Italian novelist Andrea Camilleri accepted the prestigious Pepe Carvalho prize for lifetime work at the BCNegra noir literary festival in Barcelona last week. And he made it clear that, at 88, he’s still got a lot of crime writing left in him

Camilleri was born and raised in Sicily and writes in a mixture of Italian and Sicilian. His novels are populated with a host of characters and settings, including corrupt politicians, illegal trash dumps, goat herders, the underground sex trade and, of course, the Mafia. Camilleri’s alter ego is Inspector Salvo Montalbano, the protagonist of more than a dozen novels published in English by Picador and Mantle.

The fictional Montalbano also lives in Sicily. Born in 1950, the fictional Montalbano is getting on in years too. And, like his creator Camilleri, he has no plans of retiring.

“He feels older than he is because he’s spent his whole life surrounded by imbeciles,” Camilleri told the Madrid newspaperABC. “That’s what 90% of criminals are, and if you live surrounded by imbeciles, life isn’t very nice, but he’s terrified of retirement. What will he do? Walk the dog?”

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-crime-writer-andrea-camilleri-88-award-imbeciles-20140211,0,2457282.story#axzz2tVoiaIcD 

Happy Birthday To Elmore Leonard

As Biography.com notes, today is the birthday of one of my favorite crime writers, the late Elmore Leonard.

Born in Louisiana in 1925, Elmore Leonard was inspired by Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front.

Leonard's determination to be a writer stayed with him through a stint in the U.S. Navy and a job in advertising. His early credits include mostly Westerns, including 3:10 to Yuma.

When that genre became less popular, Leonard turned to crime novels set in Detroit, Michigan, including Get Shorty, Jackie Brown and Out of Sight.

The prolific writer died in Detroit on August 20, 2013, at age 87.

You can read the rest of the piece and watch a short video of Elmore Leonard's life via the below link:

http://www.biography.com/people/elmore-leonard-575754

You can also read my Crime Beat column on Elmore Leonard via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/05/return-to-elmoreland-elmore-leonards.html

Below are the jacket covers of some of his crime novels:

 

The Great Crime Writer Elmore Leonard Dies

Foxnews.com reports that Elmore Leonard, one of my favorite writers, has died. He was 87.

Famed Hollywood writer Elmore Leonard died on Tuesday after suffering a stroke on July 29. He was 87.

Best known for “Get Shorty,” “Out of Sight” and most-recently the FX series “Justified,” Leonard was surrounded by his family at the time of his death, his researcher, Gregg Sutter, told FOX411. 
"The post I dreaded to write, and you dreaded to read. Elmore passed away at 7:15 this morning from complications from his stroke. He was at home surrounded by his loving family. More to follow," Sutter posted on Facebook. 

Leonard, winner of an honorary National Book Award in 2012, first rose to fame with the release of his Western-themed novels. His works The “Tall T” and “3:10 to Yuma” were adapted into films. Among Leonard's best-known books turned into movies are “Hombre” and "Rum Punch," which was filmed as "Jackie Brown." His short stories were also turned into several films.

His millions of fans, from bellhops to Saul Bellow, made all his books since "Glitz" (1985) best-sellers.

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/08/20/elmore-leonard-dies-three-weeks-after-stroke/

Raymond Chandler: Master Crime Writer

On Raymond Chandler's birthday, Jake Kerridge at the British newspaper the Telegraph looks back at the late great crime writer.

When Raymond Chandler began to write for pulp magazines in the Thirties, he planned from the first to smuggle something like literature into them.

Most of these magazines hooked their readers with a mixture of sex and violence – “they have juxtaposed the steely automatic and the frilly panty and found that it pays off”, wrote SJ Perelman. But Chandler wanted to do more than titillate: he had designs on his audience’s subconscious. He planned to sneak into his stories a quality which readers “would not shy off from, perhaps not even know was there … but which would somehow distil through their minds and leave an afterglow”.

When he embarked on full-length novels he was still essentially writing pulp stories with a subversive twist. His hero, Philip Marlowe, may have been as tough as any other Shamus, Dick or Peeper who appeared in Black Mask magazine, but he was also a sensitive soul, the kind of man who would knock out a thug with ease and then start musing about why the guy turned crooked and whether he had a wife and kids. And he was even known to refuse sex: “It’s great stuff, like chocolate sundaes. But there comes a time when you would rather cut your throat.”

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/10195308/Raymond-Chandler-Master-crime-writer.html

Note: To learn more about Raymond Chandler, I recommend Tom Hiney's Raymond Chandler: A Biography.

Crime And Scotland: Scotland's Master Of Crime Is Also Its Camus

As a crime aficionado and having lived in Scotland in 1974 and 1975 while stationed on a Navy tugboat at the U.S. nuclear submarine base at Holy Loch, Scotland, I'm interested in what is called "Tartan noir.'

So I was interested in Allan Massie's piece on the author of Laidlaw that appeared in the British newspaper the Telegraph.

Crime and Scotland go together, fictionally at least. Set aside Alexander McCall Smith and J K Rowling, and the most-read Scottish novelists today are crime-writers. “Tartan noir” is the name of the game; Ian Rankin and Denise Mina are two of those who most successfully show us criminal activity permeating Scottish society. Most crime writers are prolific, a novel a year, or every 18 months, being normal. There is one notable exception, the man who is widely regarded as “the father of tartan noir”. This is William McIlvanney, and he has written only three crime novels, Laidlaw in 1978, followed by The Papers of Tony Veitch and Strange Loyalties.

If three novels seem a narrow base for such a reputation, we might remember that Raymond Chandler wrote only half a dozen. Now Canongate is bringing out new editions – first Laidlaw, and then the others in the autumn – while Ian Rankin, who has said that without McIlvanney he might not have turned to crime, will be interviewing him at the Harrogate Crime Fiction festival on July 20. It should be an interesting session.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10080000/Scotlands-master-of-crime-is-also-its-Camus.html 

Elmore Leonard Wants A Dude Like His Dad For Pope

Elmore Leonard, the great crime writer, offers his idea of who should become the pope in a New York Times piece.

When I was a boy, around the time Pope Pius XI died, in 1939, I remember my dad saying he could be the next pope if he got the votes. He said there were no rules saying the pope had to come out of the cardinal pool, or be a bishop or priest of some kind; he only had to be a Catholic — male, of course — of good standing in the church, to be elected. 
      

My mother, Flora, normally a kind soul, would tell Elmore Sr., “Shush, you could never in the world be the pope.” It was the only subject I remember them arguing about. 

      

I grew up Catholic, went to Mass every day in grade school and high school; was taught by the Jesuits; spent two and a half years in the Navy during the war; returned, and was graduated from another Jesuit school, the University of Detroit. I even taught catechism in the ’60s, although I just told stories for the most part. 

      

My dad might have been qualified to be pope. He worked for General Motors.  

 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/opinion/sunday/the-next-pope-a-cool-black-nun.html?_r=0 

Crime Novelist Elmore Leonard Wins Prestigious Book Award

A report at Syracuse.com announced that crime writer Elmore Leonard will receive a major book award.

For a man who built his career on word economy, the title is pretty darned long — The National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Still, Elmore Leonard says he's thrilled to receive one of the literary world's highest honors.

The 86-year-old crime novelist will be presented with the medal in New York on Nov. 14, the same evening this year's National Book Awards are announced.

"I was very surprised. I didn't ever count on winning this kind of an award," Leonard, with one of his trademark Virginia Slims between his fingers, said in an interview at his home in suburban Detroit. "I've won a lot of awards, but not like this one."

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.syracuse.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/author-elmore-leonard-wins-prestigious-book-award/76508e4a10a64444a450f8a94476ae5c

Santa Monica, 'AKA Bay City,' Celebrates Crime Writer Raymond Chandler

Melonie Magruder at the Lookout News reports on the Santa Monica, California Citywide Reads program that will feature the late great crime writer Raymond Chandler's fourth novel, The Lady in the Lake.

Raymond Chandler, the celebrated master of noir, was intimately familiar with Santa Monica. He immortalized the seaside town in his series of short stories set in “Bay City,” a shabby gambling burg that was heavy on speakeasies and debauchery and light on police scrutiny.

... But Santa Monica – or Bay City - inspired some of Chandler’s best metaphorical prose, including lines like Moose Malloy looking “as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food.”

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2012/February-2012/02_02_2012_Santa_Monica_AKA_Bay_City_Celebrates_Raymond_Chandler.html

Agatha Christie's Secret Life As An Archaeologist

London, England (CNN) -- She is one of the best-known crime writers of all time but few know the extent of Agatha Christie's archaeological pedigree.

Married in 1930 to eminent archaeologist Max Mallowan, Christie spent two decades living on excavation sites in the Middle East, writing her crime novels and helping out with her husband's work.

(The above British Museum photo shows Christie's husband Max Mallowan, Christie and Leonard Woolley at the Biblical ruins at Ur in 1931).

Travel by boat and on the Orient Express to far-flung places such as Cairo, Damascus and Baghdad inspired some of Christie's best-known works of detective fiction, including "Murder on the Orient Express," "Death on the Nile," and "Murder in Mesopotamia."

Now, 3,000-year-old ivory artifacts recovered by Mallowan between 1949 and 1963 from the ancient city of Nimrud, in what is now Iraq, and likely cleaned by his famous wife using cotton wool buds and face cream, go on display Monday at the British Museum in London.

You can read the rest of the CNN.com piece via the below link:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/03/12/uk.christie.writer.archaeology/#

Remembering Crime Writer Dashiell Hammett, Who Died 50 Years Ago Yesterday

Peter Rozovsky's interesting blog, Detectives Beyond Borders, offers a post on the memory of the late, great crime writer Dashiell Hammett, who died 50 years ago yesterday.

The post offers some good quotes about Hammett from other crime writers. I'd like to add Raymond Chandler's view of Hammett:

“Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse; and with the means at hand, not hand-wrought dueling pistols, curare and tropical fish,” Raymond Chandler wrote of his fellow Black Mask contributor.

"He put these people down on paper as they were, and he made them talk and think in the language they customarily used for these purposes. He wrote scenes that seemed never to have been written before.”

You can read the Detectives Beyond Borders post via the below link:

http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/2011/01/memorial-day.html

You can also read my earlier post on Hammett, "the Bull of Baltimore," via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/11/dashiell-hammett-bull-of-baltimore.html