Elmore Leonard (1925–2013)

Born: October 11, 1925 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Died: August 20, 2013 (age 87) in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, USA

Married to: Christine Kent (19 August 1993 – 20 August 2013) (his death)
Joan Shepard (15 September 1979 – 13 January 1993) (her death)
Beverly Claire Cline (30 July 1949 – 24 May 1977) (divorced) (5 children)

[his first rule of writing dialog] If it sounds written, it’s wrong.
[about the adaptation of his book “Get Shorty”] All the adaptations of my books all sucked. This one [Get Shorty (1995)] got it right for once.
If work was a good thing, the rich would have it all and not let you do it.

I think any writer is a fool if he doesn’t do it for money. There needs to be some kind of incentive in addition to the project. It all goes together. It’s fun to sit there and think of characters and get them into action, then be paid for it. I can’t believe it when writers tell me, “I don’t want to show my work to anybody”. Well, what are you doing it for?

[on film versions of his work] I don’t remember all the bad ones. I know “The Big Bounce” was bad, though, and they made it twice. It wasn’t bad enough the first time [The Big Bounce (1969)]. I don’t think anybody in the picture knew what they were doing. The second time they made it [The Big Bounce (2004)], they shot it in Hawaii. They would cut to surfers when they ran out of ideas.