R.I.P. Elmore Leonard
Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 7:46 pm
US crime writer Elmore Leonard, author of such books as Get Shorty, Maximum Bob and Out of Sight, has died at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke.
A statement on his official website said he had died on Tuesday morning "surrounded by his loving family".
The author of 45 novels, Leonard had been in the process of writing his 46th.
Author Patricia Cornwell paid tribute, saying he was "one of the true icons of crime literature and entertainment".
She added he would be "hugely missed".
Leonard suffered a stroke earlier this month in Detroit and had been in hospital. He died at his home in the city's Bloomfield Village suburb.
British author Ian Rankin called Leonard "a great writer". "Gave me a few tips once," he wrote on Twitter. "I ignored most of them."
Journalist and author Tony Parsons also remembered Leonard as a "great writer" whose books would "never die".
Born in New Orleans in 1925, Leonard started out writing western stories before turning to crime fiction in the 1960s.
Renowned for his terse, no-nonsense style and sparse use of dialogue, his works inspired numerous screen adaptations.
Hombre, 3.10 to Yuma, Get Shorty and Rum Punch were among those filmed, the latter by Quentin Tarantino under the title Jackie Brown.