Elmore Leonard Dies at 87

Elmore Leonard, whose novels and short stories have been adapted into countless movies and TV shows including Get Shorty, Out of Sight and Justified, has died from complications of a stroke. He was 87.
"The post I dreaded to write, and you dreaded to read. Elmore passed away at 7:15 this morning from complications from his stroke. He was at home surrounded by his loving family," Leonard's researcher and webmaster Gregg Sutter posted to his Facebook page Tuesday.
Leonard had been hospitalized since suffering a stroke three weeks ago. 

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Dubbed the "Dickens of Detroit," Leonard got his start as a copywriter before publishing his first short story "Trail of the Apaches" in 1951. He published his first novel, The Bounty Hunters, two years later and continued writing Westerns before turning to mystery and crime. Over his career, Leonard wrote 45 novels, many of which were adapted into movies, including Jackie Brown (based on Rum Punch). The FX series Justified is based on Leonard's short story Fire in the Hole and the short-lived ABC series Karen Sisco was based on Jennifer Lopez's character in Out of Sight. Life of Crime, a film adaptation of his book The Switch starring Jennifer Anniston, will premiere in September at Toronto International Film Festival.