Elmore Leonard - Book Series In Order (2024)

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Publication Order of Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup Books

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Elmore Leonard Biography:

A true sign of a talented writer is the way he can bring simple words to life in a subtle, yet dominant, way. A true sign of a talented crime writer, however, is the way he can paint the scene of the crime in a gripping, suspense filling way. The master of crime novels, Elmore Leonard, was able to achieve that and have worldwide success. If you are a fan of Leonard, or have just come across his work, read on to learn all you will ever need to know about him, his life, and the legacy he left behind.

The Early Life For Leonard

He was born Elmore John Leonard in 1925. The son of a stay at home mother, and a father who worked at a General Motors branch. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Due to his father’s line of work, he and his family had a tendency to move around a lot. It wasn’t until 1934, when Leonard was nine that the family settled in the city of Detroit. He would spend his remaining childhood and adolescence in Detroit with his family. He was a good student, graduating from the University of Detroit Jesuit high school.

After High School

Immediately after he had graduated from his high school in 1943, Elmore joined the Navy. He served in the South Pacific for three years, and was a part of the Seabees troop. After he got out of the Navy, he enrolled into the college, University of Detroit, where he found his passion for writing. Becoming serious about the writing profession, he frequently entered short story competitions, sending in his best work to magazines of all kinds. He graduated from the University of Detroit in the year 1950, and received a Bachelor’s degree in English and Philosophy.

His Early Working Career

Elmore gained a job as a copy writer in 1950, just before he graduated from college. He worked with the Campbell-Ewald Advertising Agency, and held the position of for several years while he wrote short stories in his spare time. Before he became known as a crime writer, Leonard had several Western short stories published by a few fiction companies during the 1950s. However, it wasn’t until the early 1960’s when he garnered success for a short story that the magazine, Argosy, published. He continued writing Western short stories throughout the 1950s and 1960s. His first full length novel, The Bounty Hunters, was written in the year 1953.

Books Turned To Movies

While Leonard continued to write novels and short stories, five of his Western short stories were turned into major feature films by 1972. These included The Tall T, 3:10 To Yuma, and Hombre, among a few others. Later works of Leonard were turned to well-known feature films, which include Get Shorty, Out Of Sight, and Jackie Brown. All of these movies garnered tons of success, especially the movies 3:10 To Yuma, which starred Glenn Ford, and Get Shorty, which had starred John Travolta and Gene Hackman.

His Crime Novels

Leonard ended up writing many crime novels. In the span of his long-running career, he had written a total of 48 novels altogether, with more than half of them being crime novels. His crime novels are what skyrocketed his career. Some of his best work being Out Of Sight, Get Shorty, Blitz, Killshot, The Hunted, City Primeval, and Split Images. His career lasted from the early 1950s and up until 2012, when he had written his last novel, called Raylan. He managed to stay popular as the years passed, garnering old and new fans alike as years passed.

Screenplays

In addition to short stories and novels, Elmore also wrote screenplays. However, he only wrote a handful of screenplays from 1970 and up until 1989. Some of these included The Moonshine War, Joe Kidd, and Cat Chaser, which was the last screenplay he had ever written.

Books Turned Television

Though he was very popular as a novelist and short story writer, and several of his novels had been huge successes as films, he didn’t have that much success with his work being turned into television shows. In fact, they were short lived. His novel, called Maximum Bob, was turned into a television series and aired on NBC. However, it only lasted for seven episodes due to very poor ratings. Another television show, Karen Sisco, lasted from 2003 to 2004 and was based on the novel turned film called Out Of Sight. It was about a US Marshall Character (played by Jennifer Lopez in the film). He acted alongside Paul Lazar in a script he wrote in the year 1992. He was dramatizing a scene from the novel he wrote, titled Swag. It appeared on the Showtime channel and ended up being a rather humorous short.

His Personal Life

He got married in 1949 to a woman named Beverly Claire Cline. The couple had five children together. He ended up having 13 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. The couple remained married until 1977 when they divorced. His second marriage was to a woman named Joan Leanne Lancaster, aka Joan Shepard, and they remained married until she died in 1993. He married a final time in 1994 to a woman named Christine Kent, which ended in divorce in 2012. Elmore was born on October 11th, 1925. He ended up living out the rest of his life in the city Bloomfield, Michigan.

The Death Of Elmore Leonard

Elmore suffered a stroke in July of 2013. Though many reported that he was doing fine and recovering at home in Michigan that was not the case. Elmore Leonard died on August 25th, 2013. He was a couple months shy of his 88th birthday. He died from complications of the stroke he suffered from the previous month. Elmore’s legacy lives on, and the memory of his life is survived by five children, 13 grandchildren, and 15 great grandchildren. He was buried in a cemetery in Bloomfield, Michigan. His funeral service was held at Holy Name Church in Birmingham, Michigan.

Elmore Leonard is a crime novelist whose legacy will live on for decades to come. His short stories, novels and film will remain popular and current, no matter what year it is. To learn more about the man, visit his website, and also read his novels.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Elmore Leonard

2 Responses to “Elmore Leonard”

1. Hugh Njemanze: 3 years ago

   Hi tokyorunner,
   I am not sure whether I have read all of his books, but for sure most of them. He is one of my very favorite authors. I would love to read your reviews of his books.
   Thanks!
   Hugh

   Reply

2. tokyoracer: 6 years ago

   See Also

   Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing

   I read EVERY Elmore Leonard book and story, and rated them, with a brief review. If you would like to receive this in a Word file, email me at tokyorunner007@gmail.com

   Reply

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