Literature / Film & TV
Elmore Leonard
1925–2013 · novelist, screenwriter
Crime novelist nicknamed 'the Dickens of Detroit', raised and educated in the city, who set many of his hard-boiled stories on its streets.
- Born
New Orleans, Louisiana- Died
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
aged 87- Birth name
- Elmore John Leonard Jr.
- Also known as
- Dutch · the Dickens of Detroit
- Detroit years
- 1934–2013
- Field
- Literature, Film & TV
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Elmore Leonard was born in New Orleans, but his family settled in Detroit in 1934, when his father's job with General Motors brought them north; the next year the boy watched the Tigers win the World Series. He graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School in 1943, served with the Navy Seabees in the South Pacific, where he picked up the nickname 'Dutch' from Tigers pitcher Dutch Leonard, and then studied English and philosophy at the University of Detroit on the G.I. Bill. For years he wrote ad copy at the Campbell-Ewald agency while writing Westerns early in the morning before work. When he turned to crime fiction, Detroit became his main stage in novels such as 52 Pick-Up, Swag, Unknown Man No. 89, City Primeval and Freaky Deaky. He lived in the northern suburbs for the rest of his life and died at home in Bloomfield Hills in 2013.
Highlights
- Detroit crime novels: 52 Pick-Up, Swag, City Primeval, Freaky Deaky
- Books filmed as Get Shorty, Jackie Brown (Rum Punch) and Out of Sight
- Western story behind 3:10 to Yuma (1957, remade 2007)
- His characters inspired the TV series Justified and Justified: City Primeval
- National Book Foundation medal for distinguished contribution (2012)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1939–1943
University of Detroit Jesuit High School
Leonard graduated from this Jesuit high school on Detroit's northwest side in 1943.
Studied here · 1946–1950
University of Detroit (today University of Detroit Mercy, McNichols Campus)
He earned his degree in English and philosophy here after the war, on the G.I. Bill.
Worked here · 1950s
Campbell-Ewald advertising agency
Status being checked
Leonard wrote advertising copy here while writing his early Westerns on the side.