Elmore Leonard's son Peter to finish final novel

Elmore Leonard's funeral service Elmore Leonard was given military honours after his funeral on Saturday

Related Stories

The son of late author Elmore Leonard has said he hopes to complete his father's last novel.

Elmore Leonard, whose books included Get Shorty and Out of Sight, died aged 87 on Tuesday after suffering a stroke.

He did not finish his 46th novel Blue Dreams. His son Peter, also an author, told BBC Radio 4 he had talked to other family members about completing it.

Leonard's funeral was held in the author's home town of Birmingham, Michigan, on Saturday.

Blue Dreams was to have featured the Stetson-wearing US marshal Raylan Givens, who has appeared in a string of Leonard's stories.

In an interview with Radio 4's Broadcasting House that was aired on Sunday, presenter Paddy O'Connell asked Peter Leonard whether he would finish the book.

"I would, I think so," he replied. "It's been discussed among family members and I've talked to Greg Sutter, Elmore's longtime researcher."

Elmore Leonard working in 2010 Elmore Leonard wrote at home on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan

Peter Leonard added that he did not know how many pages his father had written.

At the funeral, another son, Bill Leonard, told mourners: "Everyone knows that Elmore was a great writer. But only a few of us know that he was a great father - funny, patient and incredibly generous."

As well as the order of service, attendees were given a small card listing Leonard's famous 10 Rules of Writing, which include "never open a book with weather" and "try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip".

Following the service, Leonard, who served as a Navy seaman during World War II, was given military honours, which included the playing of taps and a flag-folding ceremony, according to the Associated Press news agency.

More on This Story

Related Stories

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites

More Entertainment & Arts stories

RSS

Features & Analysis

From BBC Culture

Programmes

  • A toy bear being animated using the Crazy Talk toolWebscape Watch

    Kate Russell looks at a lip-syncing animation tool and also reviews other websites and apps

BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.