Sunday, November 11, 2012

By yours truly …

… Crime paid this writer, in dollars and honors.

2 comments:

  1. Frank,

    Good piece on Elmore Leonard, one of my favorite writers.

    I wrote about Leonard in my online column in 2009. Leonard came to Philadelphia and spoke at the main library.

    You did a fine job of introducing him and I used your introduction in my column.

    Your intro to Leonard is below:

    “They put Foley and the Cuban together in the backseat of the van and took them from the Palm Beach County jail on Gun Club to Glades Correctional, the old redbrick prison at the south end of Lake Okeechobee,” my friend and former editor, Frank Wilson, read to the audience at the Central Library in Center City Philadelphia prior to introducing crime writer Elmore Leonard on May 14th.

    “That sentence, which happens to be the first one in Road Dogs, will signal to any reader who’s been there before that he is once again entering “Elmoreland,” a region whose inhabitants speak a language not taught in the schools — American.”

    Wilson retired as the book editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer and now runs Books, Inq (http://booksinq.blogspot.com/), a popular literary blog that The Times in London named as one of the 100 Best Blogs 2009.

    Wilson told the audience that once you find yourself in Elmoreland you also find yourself hanging on those inhabitants’ every word.

    “You just can’t help noticing that what they say and the way they say it is smooth and tangy, like good Bourbon,” Wilson said.

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  2. Oh Frank, you and he share a birthday :) I am sure that has something to do with your soft spot for him.
    I love the piece. In fact, it is similar to what you praise Leonard for, an eye for dialogue. I could hear you speaking it out.
    And I love Philly's new look!

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