Anniversary and appreciation …

… Get Shorty at 30: Dennis Lehane on Elmore Leonard's Hollywood satire | Books | The Guardian. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

… I hung out with him twice, once in a bar in the midwest (a recovering alcoholic, he drank O’Doul’s with gusto), and the other time at a literary festival in a small town in Italy. Both times I was struck by what a dude he was. Cooler than almost anyone I’ve ever met. As cool as Chili Palmer, Raylan Givens, Ernest Stickley Jr or Vincent Mora – to name just a few of the laconic badasses who took centre stage at one time or another in his novels. The books were like the man – wry and observant, contemptuous of navel-gazing.

I met him twice, both times when introducing him at the Free Library. He was indeed as cool as anybody I have ever met.

Here is my review of Mr. Paradise. And here's a piece I wrote about him: Crime paid this writer, in dollars and honors.