Graham Yost And The Staff At ‘Justified’ Wrote The Perfect Tribute To Elmore Leonard

The world lost a good one yesterday when writer Elmore Leonard passed away at 87. There were many heartfelt tributes penned to the man responsible for such film and TV adaptations as Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and, of course, Justified (including one by Vince over at Filmdrunk), but for my money, the one from the staff of the FX drama summed everything up best.

“We were blessed by the time we got to spend with him and we will miss him. Our thoughts are with his family. Take it easy, Elmore,” said “Justified” creator Graham Yost, star Timothy Olyphant, and the show’s cast and crew.

“PS,” they added. “We wrote longer versions of this statement, but as Elmore always said: Leave out the parts people tend to skip.” [The Wrap]

Perfect. And in case you were wondering, yes, the admiration between Leonard and the people at Justified was very much mutual.

Leonard on Justified: “I think it’s a terrific show. I love all of the writing, and I’m amazed sometimes that they’ve got the characters better than I put them on paper. They are doing a good job, really a good job… Well, they’re pros, to begin
 with. They know what they’re doing. Good 
writing. I think, the writing, I can’t believe it 
sometimes. My God, it’s a lot better than what I
 would have written in the scene, you know.” [THR]

I like to think he was talking about this scene when he said that.

Rest in peace, Elmore.

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