With a prolific author, those who haven't read any EL could use some hints as to which his best were. Got a list?

runs, and check the forums as there are threads about what people like best. I like Rum Punch, which Quentin Tarantino renamed to Jackie Brown for the movie version of the book. I really like his Westerns a lot too. I hound Gregg Sutter, my friend, about Formula 1 all the time, enough so that Elmore had a Nazi character in his book "Up in Honey's Room" who was an ex-Grand Prix driver in Argentina. I've met Elmore several times and he is a super nice guy. Gregg is the owner of the Mazdaspeed 6 with the clutch failure I speak about in the Mazda thread above. One of these days one of Elmore's characters will be driving a BMW 2002 as I bug Gregg about it constantly.

http://www.elmoreleonard.com/



Here's a story from the website about Elmore's car back in the '50s that Gregg recently found . . .



Elmore’s Early Ride


Elmore and I were just talking about his 1956 Fiat 600 at dinner the other day and a very funny story about it. I showed him the picture above, and he said, That’s it! Except his was powder blue, but it did have the sunroof. He had three of his five kids by then (1956) and they all piled in the back. By the time, the fourth kid arrived, I think he switched to a station wagon.

Here’s the story that appeared in Esquire. Thanks to our intrepid Robb for digging it out.

My Car Story by Elmore Leonard
Esquire (Oct 1998)

In the mid-1950s, I worked for an advertising agency writing print ads, magazine and newspaper, on the national Chevrolet account.

One evening after work, the senior vice-president and account executive, Colin Campbell, stopped by my office to say his Bel Air was in for service and to ask if I could give him a lift home. We lived in adjoining suburbs north of Detroit. Together, then we left the General Motors building and walked two blocks to the lot where I parked for fifty cents a day.

I should mention that Mr. Campbell was Mr. Chevrolet at the agency, perhaps the product line’s most loyal champion. He would spot typos missed by proofreaders.

As we approached my car, I said, “Here we are.”

Mr. Campbell said, “Where?” looking around for a Chevy Bell Air or at least a Biscayne.

I said, “Right here.”

He said, “This is what you drive?”

I admitted it was.

He stared at the sporty little subcompact, light-blue, with the canvas top that rolled all the way back, and said, “What is it?”

I told Mr. Campbell it was a rear-engine Fiat 600.

He said, “Oh.”

And that was about it for conversation on the way home.

Jay, I read Cuba Libre when I was in Cuba one time. I thought it was a great period piece. This was before you mentioned that you knew his researcher.
I have seen many of the movies made from the books, but really should read the originals.

for Cuba Libre. I think he had to take the Lee Harvey Oswald route to get there. Of course one has to read the original stories and books, although both Gregg and Elmore (I believe) feel the best adaptation was Jackie Brown. One might think a sucessful author like Elmore is raking it in these days, but for the remake of 3:10 to Yuma he received the exact same pay as he got for the original movie back in 1957: 2k. A fifty-year-old contract (allowing a remake at the same pay level) was still valid. Gregg worked with no pay for 15 years before EL could afford to pay him, although Gregg did have a normal job in the auto industry during that time so he wasn't starving.

Jay, here's an interesting bit of info that you might like to relate to your friend Gregg.
In Cuba, on the street, foreigners are known as Yumas. It's a slang term, not necesarily derogatory, used to describe someone from another country, kind of like gringo.
Or one cubans says "hey what where's Flaco these days?"
The answer,"he went to Yuma".
So when I asked some people about the origin of the term they said they thought it was from a hollywood movie. It may be that the term came from the movie "3:10 to Yuma". I guess some more research is necessary. Maybe another Cuban themed book would be a good idea, I'll help any way I can.
That is unbelievable that the 50 year old contract is still valid, especially when you see these young screenwriters getting millions for some lame script.

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Ummmm.....did a little research of my own....
I guess your friend and Elmore already know about this bit of linguistic trivia.

http://www.slate.com/id/2175455/