Funeral held for author Elmore Leonard

BIRMINGHAM, Mich. — Mike Lupica moved his tie out of the way and undid a few buttons of his dress shirt to reveal a simple black T-shirt that read: “Not now. I’m writing.”

It was a replica of the shirt his late friend and fellow author Elmore Leonard was wearing in the photo that graced the back cover of the program for Saturday’s funeral Mass.

“I gave him that shirt,” Lupica, a sportswriter and columnist, said after the service at Holy Name Church in Birmingham. “Everything that he was was in that picture.”

Lupica was among the dozens of friends, family and fans who paid their final respects to the award-winning crime novelist during a service that was equal parts laughter and tears. Leonard, 87, died Tuesday at his home in Bloomfield Township from complications of a stroke he suffered a few weeks ago.

Son Peter Leonard, himself an established author, elicited more than a few chuckles during his eulogy, remembering how his father “always got stopped” at airport checkpoints for trying to carry various items, ranging from scissors and shampoo to an excessive amount of athlete’s foot powder.

There was the time the elder Leonard ran out of underwear during a trip to Italy. And, always, there was his enjoyment in interacting with his fans.

“His favorite letters were from convicts,” Peter Leonard said to laughs.

Another son, Christopher Leonard, joked about the “biting sarcasm” that his father had genetically bestowed upon his kids and grandkids, seven of whom (plus a great-grandson) served as pallbearers on Saturday.

Bill Leonard, meanwhile, chose to remember a different aspect about his father.

“Everyone knows that Elmore was a great writer,” he said. “But only a few of us know that he was a great father — funny, patient and incredibly generous.”

Leonard was the winner of an honorary National Book Award in 2012, and his millions of fans made best-sellers out of pretty much every one of his books since 1985’s “Glitz.”

Leonard, who wrote Westerns for years before hitting it big in the crime genre, also was a favorite of Hollywood, which adapted his work into dozens of movies and TV shows, including the films “Out of Sight” and “Get Shorty” and the FX drama “Justified,” for which Leonard was an executive producer.

“Raylan,” published in 2012, now stands as his final novel. Leonard had been at work on a new book called “Blue Dreams” that again would have featured Raylan Givens, the recurring Stetson-wearing U.S. marshal.

“Justified” star Timothy Olyphant attended the funeral, which he described as “lovely.” Olyphant said he was a “huge fan” of Leonard’s books and that he “felt very blessed to have known him.”

In addition to the program, funeral attendees were handed a small card that listed Leonard’s “10 Rules of Writing,” which long have been quoted by aspiring — and existing — authors. Among the rules: “Never open a book with weather,” “never use a verb other than `said’ to carry dialogue” and “try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.”

A number of speakers Saturday referenced the list during their remarks, including Lupica.

“I’m going to leave out the parts that a dear friend of mine would have expected me to skip,” he said before reading a New Testament verse.

Following the service, Leonard, who served as a Navy seaman during World War II, was given military honors, which including the playing of taps and a flag-folding ceremony.

He lived “a great American life,” Lupica said.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.