Elmore Leonard defined what it means to change the game.

 

Elmore Leonard is the reason I like George Clooney as an actor.

Elmore Leonard is the reason Timothy Olyphant is giving one of the best performances on television right now.

Elmore Leonard is the reason I love complex characters.

Elmore Leonard is the standard by which I assess great dialogue in both movies and television.

I came to Elmore Leonard later than many. Sure, as a movie buff I had seen more than a handful of his films, Out of Sight being a standout. However, it wasn't  until 2001 when I read his NY Times essay about the Ten Rules on Writing that I began to pick up his novels.   

I have been a fan of thrillers and crime stories since I was in Junior High. The books I love are because I become riveted by the plot and can't wait to see where a story is taking me or I connect to a character's perspective and outlook on the situations and circumstances surrounding them. Those are the aspects of novels that keep me up until 4AM reading. Like Leonard, I don't ever "want hooptedoodle to get mixed up with the story". Pound for pound you'd be hard pressed to find it in any of his stories. In its place you will discover funny, astute and intriguing dialogue. Dialogue that serves to propel the story and define the character who speaks it. It's the gift and originality that made Elmore Leonard a standout. the show Justified, created from one of the stories in Fire in the Hole offers us U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens who embodies the ability Leonard had for developing people that lived on the grey line that exists between the law and criminals. Four seasons in the series has told stories that range in interest and plausibility, but all are surrounded by terrific, unpredictable characters whose motivation for action is always evolving.

The legacy of Elmore Leonard for me will always be his dialogue. Many terrific examples exist, but for me this defines his greatness.

Much will be written in the upcoming days about the 'Dickens of Detroit'. I seriously doubt any of it will capture the wit, complexity and sheer joy that you will find by picking up one of Leonard's books. Plus, you'll never have to read a prologue if you do.