From the police logs in local newspapers to the Metro sections of major metropolitan dailies, from the pablum of TV drama, to pulp fiction, crime always sells. But few dramatized it better than Elmore Leonard. He was the author of 45 crime novels including Cat Chaser, Fifty Two Pickup, Be Cool, Get Shorty, Maximum Bob, Rum Punch, Cuba Libre, Glitz and Tishomingo Blues. He was an American original, who was one of the earliest to understand the heroes needn't be perfect. Long before Breaking Bad, or Tony Soprano, he created a series of stories and characters, that blurred the lines between “good” and “bad.”
I had the privilege of talking to Leonard several times over the years, the last time in 2004. Here is compendium of some of those conversations:
