Leonard has branched out in unexpected ways, publishing his first children's book,
A Coyote's in the House, in 2004. "Elmore Leonard may only write crime stories," observed
Times Literary Supplement reviewer David Papineau, "but he writes rings around most authors with loftier ambitions."
Leonard was born October 11, 1925, in New Orleans, Louisiana, a city he would revisit in fiction. Early in his childhood, Leonard's family relocated to Detroit, Michigan. His interest in writing was sparked while he was in the fifth grade. Inspired by the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, Leonard wrote and staged a short play set during the First World War. He continued to write throughout his school years, contributing stories to the school newspaper while a student at University of Detroit High. Shortly after graduating from high school, Leonard joined the U.S. Navy and served in the South Pacific during the Second World War. At the end of the war in 1946, he returned to Michigan, enrolled at the University of Detroit, and began work at an advertising agency. After completing his degree, Leonard continued in advertising and made his first serious attempts at fiction. "I'd get up early, write, then go crank out zingy copy for Chevrolet trucks," Leonard recalled for Time magazine reviewer J.
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