Award-winning novelist’s entire body of work finds its home at Carolina
When award-winning writer Elmore Leonard passed away last year, there was a question as to what would happen to the work he left behind.
Leonard’s collection was highly sought after. It included his typewriter and desk, original copies of short stories and teleplays (some of which remain unpublished), as well as personal correspondences and a handwritten draft of the author’s “Ten Rules of Writing."
USC President Harris Pastides said Wednesday that this “significant event” was not only important to the university community, but also to the global literary community.
“This collection,” he said, “will bring researchers from around the world to our university.”
In all, there are 150 boxes of donated material and personal papers. Pastides reported that, if laid end-to-end, the documents alone would span half a mile.
Most notably in the collection now housed in the Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library, is Leonard’s type-written and hand-marked typescript of his short story, “Three-Ten to Yuma." Though the piece was originally published in 1953, it has since been adapted for screen twice, once in 1954 and again in 2007, with Russell Crowe playing the lead.
But “Three-Ten to Yuma” isn’t Leonard’s only blockbuster work. There's also a copy of the short story, “Fire in the Hole,” which served as inspiration for the FX show, "Justified." The 1995 film "Get Shorty," starring John Travolta and Danny DeVito, was based on Leonard’s 1990 novel of the same name.
A collection like Leonard's is unique in that it provides insight into every part of the creative process. It contains not only drafts, but also research notes.
The entire process from notion to screen is now permanently documented in full and is all-accessible.