ELMORE LEONARD: DON’T TRY TO WRITE

PBS America: Friday 30th June at 7pm

A giant of American crime writing, acclaimed author Elmore Leonard remains hugely influential a decade after his death.

Having first left his mark on the Western genre, Leonard went on to become one of America’s foremost chroniclers of the criminal class in fiction. Over the decades, many of his works have been adapted for film and TV, among them Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Jackie Brown and – on two occasions – the tense Western 3:10 to Yuma.

Drawing upon exclusive images and previously unseen home movie footage and family photographs, plus in-depth interviews with literary experts, colleagues, family and childhood friends, this documentary profile explores Leonard’s writing process, the themes he tackled so expertly and the challenges he faced along the way.