Elmore Leonard, At Home In Detroit
Elmore Leonard - Author Elmore Leonard at his home in Bloomfield Village, Mich. (Noah Adams / NPR)
For six decades, Elmore Leonard has been sitting at his writing desk, first in Detroit, then in the suburbs, creating robberies and murders for books and movies. Hollywood has tried many times to translate Leonard's work from page to screen: Get Shorty, Out of Sight, two versions of 3:10 to Yuma. Leonard has written several screenplays too, and worked on the recent, short-lived ABC television series Karen Sisco.
Tonight, another television network — FX this time — takes a shot at bringing Elmore's World to life. Leonard himself is an executive producer of Justified, but he says there are a whole bunch of those, and he doesn't have script approval.
But Leonard's happy. He's met the writers, and they're keeping their source close at hand.
(Noah Adams / NPR)
"They said, 'We all have this little plastic bracelet on that says WWED — What Would Elmore Do?' " Leonard says. "It seems to me that they sound like my writing."
What Would Elmore Do? Take, for starters, the advice he says he gave to Get Shorty director Barry Sonnenfeld on how to balance dark humor and menace.
"I said, 'When these guys say something funny, you don't cut away to get laughs because they're serious. They're all serious,' " Leonard says.
It's advice worth heeding. Leonard has written 43 books, almost all of which have been optioned for films. His fans — there are many — say he's the best crime writer ever, and they can recognize any page based on the sound.
"Well, when people ask me about my dialogue, I say 'Well, don't you hear people talking?' That's all I do. I hear a certain type of individual," Leonard says. "I decide this is what he should be, whatever it is, and then I hear him. Well, I don't hear anybody that I can't make talk."
Leonard also uses names he likes the sound of. He once met a man named Raylan at a book fair, and created Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, from Harlan County, Ky. Givens appeared in two novels by Leonard as well as the short story "Fire in the Hole" that is the basis for Justified.
In the show, Givens wears a white Stetson and only pulls his sidearm if he intends to use it, as in a scene from the pilot where Givens (played by Timothy Olyphant) gives a thug an ultimatum: Get out of town, or die.
Just in case the television guys run out of stories, Leonard says he hasn't been able to resist working on an idea of his own for Justified. He's about 20 pages into a storyline about body parts that starts as Givens enters a motel room to make an arrest.
"It's quiet, and the guy's not in the bed," Leonard says. Givens goes into the bathroom to find his suspect "in an ice bath, naked, lot of crushed ice up to his chin, hair back, and both of his kidneys are missing. So Raylan wonders, well they took his kidneys to sell them." Leonard chuckles. "But why did they keep him alive?"
In Detroit
On a nice day in Detroit, you might take your kids to Bell Isle, near downtown, to feed the geese. Or, if you're a crime writer, you might set a scene here. Perhaps, in the icy dark, a murder weapon goes into the Detroit River, or a car blows up on the bridge.
Leonard still remembers when Detroit had 700 murders a year. And any tour of Leonard's city will stop in front of the police headquarters on Beaubien, at No. 1300. Leonard spent long weeks at the station, and in the bars nearby, listening to the homicide detectives. He recalls sitting in the courtroom at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, taking notes about stories that wouldn't occur to a fiction writer.
"That house was on fire last time I saw it," Leonard says, pointing at a red house. "That's the opening scene in Mr. Paradise. Three bodies."
Three people shot in the head, to be exact, one sectioned by chain saw. The red house from Leonard's 2002 novel was near a White Castle, close to Tiger Stadium, which a character describes in the book as "that famous old ball park of no use to anybody."
Pulling up to the curb at that site, Leonard gets a surprise. The stadium was demolished last year; he has fewer words for what remains: "Jeez ... where ... there's nothing left."
At Home
Twenty-four miles from where Tiger Stadium used to stand, where Leonard and his wife, Christine, live in a handsome house, in a fine neighborhood, the author pulls a book from the shelf.
The Bounty Hunter was Leonard's first book, published in 1953. The cover reads, "A Novel by Elmore Leonard about a time when an Apache scalp would bring 500 pesos in Mexico."
At the time, Leonard had been writing Western short stories for two cents a word, getting up at 5 a.m. He found he was good at Westerns, and he left his job writing copy for Chevrolet ads.
Every page, from 1961's Hombre to last year's Road Dogs, has been handwritten on canary yellow paper. Leonard orders a year's supply at a time, "50 pads of 60 pages per pad."
"I've been using this paper ever since I left the ad agency where they used these pads," Leonard says. "I like them but I always write in longhand before I put it in the typewriter."
Leonard is still writing Westerns, only now on a global scale. The next book to come from this desk is about terrorism, piracy, and al-Qaida. It's called Djibouti, and it's due in November.
"I said to my editor, 'Well, I'm gonna call my next one Djibouti' before I started to write it," Leonard says. "He said, 'Well, you can't use Djibouti. You could use maybe with another word or two with it, might work.' I said, 'It's Djibouti. And that's it.' "
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ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
MELISSA BLOCK, host:
And I'm Melissa Block.
Some of the sharpest fiction ever written about the law, and the people who love to break it, began in one place: the criminal mind of Elmore Leonard. And tonight on television, a new series begins, inspired by the author of "Get Shorty" and "Out of Sight." FX TV has borrowed one of Leonard's characters for the new series called "Justified."
Elmore Leonard has been writing mayhem for six decades, and NPR's Noah Adams visited him at his home outside Detroit.
NOAH ADAMS: Elmore Leonard is listed as executive producer of "Justified," but there's a whole bunch of those, and he does not have script approval. But Leonard's happy, says he's met the writers.
ELMORE LEONARD (Writer): They said we all have this little, plastic bracelet on that says WWED: What Would Elmore Do? And it seems to me they sound like my writing.
ADAMS: There have been, in Elmore Leonard's time, a lot of go-arounds with Hollywood.
Mr. LEONARD: It's like when we shot the one with Travolta, the first one with Travolta...
ADAMS: "Get Shorty."
Mr. LEONARD: "Get Shorty." I said to the director, I said, when these guys say something funny, you don't cut away to get laughs and like that, because they're serious. They're all serious.
(Soundbite of film, "Get Shorty")
Mr. JOHN TRAVOLTA (Actor): (As Chili Palmer) How you doing? I'm Chili Palmer.
Mr. GENE HACKMAN (Actor): (As Harry Zimm) Oh, Jesus, if I have a heart attack, I hope you know what to do.
Mr. TRAVOLTA: Where you been, Harry?
Mr. HACKMAN: Have we met? I don't recall.
Mr. TRAVOLTA: We just did. I told you, my name's Chili Palmer.
Mr. HACKMAN: We have pictures, right? Did you ever stop to think what would happen if I had a heart attack?
Mr. TRAVOLTA: Look at me, Harry.
Mr. HACKMAN: I'm looking at you.
Mr. TRAVOLTA: I want you to keep looking at me, right here.
Mr. HACKMAN: Well, that's what I'm doing.
ADAMS: Almost all of Leonard's novels have been optioned for the movies. He has written 43 books. And his fans, who say he's the best crime writer ever, can recognize any page because of the sound.
Mr. LEONARD: Well, when people ask me about my dialogue, I say, don't you hear people talking? That's all I do. I hear a certain type of individual, I decide this is what he should be, whatever it is, and then I hear him. Well, I don't hear anybody that I can't make talk.
ADAMS: Leonard also uses names that he likes the sound of. He met a man named Raylen at a book fair and created Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylen Givens, from Harlan County, Kentucky. And he's now the lead character in the TV show "Justified." He wears a white Stetson; only pulls his sidearm if he intends to use it.
In this scene from the pilot, Marshal Givens has told a gun thug to get out of town. Leave Miami or die.
(Soundbite of TV show, "Justified")
Mr. TIMOTHY OLYPHANT (Actor): (As Marshal Raylen Givens) You can get up and go, 30 seconds.
Unidentified Man: So what are you going to do? In front of all these people, you're going to pull out a gun, and you're going to shoot an unarmed man?
Mr. OLYPHANT: You're unarmed, huh?
Unidentified Man: Hey, you got eyes. Do you see a piece on me?
Mr. OLYPHANT: Twenty seconds.
ADAMS: Elmore Leonard says the TV guys just might run out of stories and, not being able to resist, he's been working on an idea for "Justified." He's 20 pages into this - about body parts. Marshal Givens goes into a motel room to make an arrest...
Mr. LEONARD: It's quiet. He doesn't see that the guy's not in the bed. He goes into the bathroom and the guy's in an ice bath, naked, a lot of crushed ice up to his chin, hair back, and both of his kidneys are missing. So Raylen wonders, well, they took his kidneys to sell them. There's a big demand for a lot of parts, but why do they keep him alive?
(Soundbite of geese)
ADAMS: On a nice day, come to Belle Isle near downtown with your kids, and feed the geese. Or if you're a crime writer, set a couple of scenes here. In the icy dark, a murder weapon goes into the Detroit River, or a car could blow up on the bridge.
(Soundbite of car)
Mr. LEONARD: OK, we're coming on to 1300. Up here on the right.
ADAMS: If you're driving around to see Elmore Leonard's Detroit, thinking back to when the city had 700 murders a year, he's going to show you the police headquarters on Beaubien; 1300's the address, and that's how people call it.
What do the criminals call it?
Mr. LEONARD: I don't know. Youll see them coming out, holding their shoelaces.
ADAMS: Elmore Leonard spent long weeks at 1300, and in the bars listening to the homicide detectives. He'd go sit in the courtroom at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, make notes, hear stories that wouldn't occur to a fiction writer.
Mr. LEONARD: Hey, they fixed it up. That house was on fire last time I saw it.
ADAMS: What are we looking at?
Mr. LEONARD: That red house, that was, that's the opening scene in "Mr. Paradise." Three bodies.
ADAMS: Three people shot in the head - one body sectioned by chainsaw. The red house was near a White Castle and close to Tiger Stadium, described in the book as that famous old ballpark of no use to anybody. We pull up to the curb at that site. Leonard hasn't seen this yet.
Mr. LEONARD: Geez, where - there's nothing left.
ADAMS: Twenty-four miles from where Tiger Stadium used to stand, Elmore Leonard and his wife, Christine, live in a handsome house in a fine neighborhood.
Mr. LEONARD: This is the first book I wrote.
ADAMS: "Bounty Hunters," oh, I like that. Read the exposition there at the bottom.
Mr. LEONARD: A novel by Elmore Leonard about a time when an Apache scalp would bring 500 pesos in Mexico.
ADAMS: "The Bounty Hunters" was published in 1953. Leonard had been writing Western short stories for two cents a word, getting up at 5 a.m. He was good at Westerns, left his job as an advertising copywriter on the Chevrolet account, published "Hombre" and "3:10 to Yuma." Then and now, every page at first, handwritten.
Mr. LEONARD: I always order this. I order 50 pads of 60 pages per pad.
ADAMS: He writes on canary yellow paper, orders a year's supply.
Mr. LEONARD: And I've been using this paper ever since I left the ad agency, where they used these pads. I always write in longhand before I put it on the typewriter.
ADAMS: The next book from this desk is about terrorism, about piracy and al-Qaida. You'll notice Leonard is still writing Westerns, only now on a global scale. This one, due in November, is called "Djibouti."
Mr. LEONARD: I've always liked Djibouti. And I said to my editor, well, I want to call my next one Djibouti, before I started to write it. And he said, well, you can't use Djibouti. You could use maybe with - another word or two with it might work. I said, it's Djibouti - and that's it.
(Soundbite of laughter)
ADAMS: Elmore Leonard, 84 years old, crime writer, Bloomfield Village, Michigan.
For NPR News, this is Noah Adams.
BLOCK: And Elmore Leonard talks about the writers who influenced him at our Web site, NPR.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
