Alex R. Johnson is an author and filmmaker. His debut novel Brooklyn Motto was published this year and his film Two Step, premiered at the SXSW Film Festival. He joins the podcast to talk Elmore and tell us what it's like to jump between film and books, learn from Jonathan Demme, and grow up in a house of spies.

https://haciendafilmsinc.com

Guest: Alex R. Johnson

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

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Walter Mosley is one of our great writers. He's written over 60 books, including mysteries, science fiction, short stories and non-fiction. His books have been adapted into films and television shows such as Devil in a Blue Dress, starring Denzel Washington, Jennifer Beals, and Don Cheadle; The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey starring Samuel L. Jackson (Apple TV); The Man in my Basement starring Corey Hawkins and Willem Dafoe (Hulu), and many more.

He is also incredibly prolific in television, having written on shows such as FX's Snowfall, Justified: City Primeval and The Lowdown.

He has won the Edgar Award, the O. Henry Award, The Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award, a Grammy®, several NAACP Image awards, and PEN America's Lifetime Achievement Award.

We discuss the foibles of right and wrong, how being a computer programmer is like being a cowboy, what happens if he doesn't write for 3 days in a row, and so much more.

https://www.waltermosley.com

Guest: Walter Mosley

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

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Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

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Danny Cosmo is a world-record holding high diver and stunt man who has worked on over 170 movies. Cosmo met Elmore during the research phase of TISHOMINGO BLUES, and Elmore based much of his character Dennis on Cosmo's exploits.

Cosmo joins us to share what it's like to dive from 96 feet in the air, getting shot at in Puerto Rico, transmitting subliminal messages on The Tonight Show, and how he got to be such good friends with Elmore.

See Danny in action here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d0MrlWhLYc

Danny's YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@FishingwithCosmo

Guest: Danny Cosmo

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

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Graham Yost has written or produced some of the best television ever. His work includes Band of Brothers, Boomtown, John Adams, The Pacific, Masters of the Air, The Americans, Slow Horses, and Silo. He is also the Executive Producer and Showrunner of FX's Justified, based on Elmore Leonard's short story "Fire in the Hole."

Justified, starring Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Joelle Carter, and Nick Searcy among many other amazing actors, is considered one of the very best adaptations of Elmore's work.

While Graham refused to share his childhood nickname with us, he did share great stories about Elmore, being mercilessly taunted by Walton Goggins, whether or not there will be more Justified, and much, much more.

Guest: Graham Yost

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

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Before Elmore Leonard died in 2013 he decided that he wanted his archives to live at The Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of South Carolina.

This fall, the first Elmore Leonard Exhibit opened and we got to meet two of the people responsible for preserving the archives, Michael Weisenburg and Elizabeth Sudduth. Michael is the current director of the Collection and oversaw the exhibit, and Elizabeth was the director when Elmore decided that he wanted his papers, notes, and letters to be preserved alongside those of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Hammett, and George V. Higgins.

We spoke with Elizabeth and Michael about what made Elmore choose the University of South Carolina, how the Collection will continue to evolve, and about the value of crime fiction.

Learn more about the exhibit by clicking on the link below. It runs until mid-January 2026.

Special Thanks to: Elizabeth Sudduth, Michael Weisenburg, Jeffrey Makkala, and Matt Hodge.

https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/university_libraries/exhibits_events_news/news/2025/100_years_of_elmore_leonard.php

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

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Alex gets an audience with the one and only Otto Penzler, a dear friend of Elmore's and the proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City - the oldest mystery specialist book store in America.

Having been featured in Comfort to the Enemy and Up In Honey's Room, Otto is also the first character of Elmore's to join ust on the podcast.

Otto tells us about getting to know Elmore, the importance of not showing off all that you know, and why it's good to be the first to ask.

This episode is dedicated to Raffles, the German Shepherd.

https://www.mysteriousbookshop.com

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

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Elmore Leonard has been referred to as the "Dickens of Detroit" but his books are set all over the world. Some of our favorite books of Elmore's, like Split Images, Cat Chaser, La Brava, Maximum Bob, or Rum Punch are set in the great State of Florida.

This podcast features conversations with two people with very unique connections to Florida and Elmore. In the first half of the podast, we speak with Kristy Lowman an actual Weeki Wachee mermaid, just like the ones featured in Maximum Bob.

We also get to speak with one of Elmore's five children, Bill Leonard, who shares some great stories about the family vacations that first brought Elmore to Florida.

https://weekiwachee.com

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

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Alex and Judd throw on their cashmere sweaters, plant machetes, and taunt the homicide detectives as they dive deep into Elmore Leonard's SPLIT IMAGES.

From ElmoreLeonardOfficial.com:

Wealthy industrialist Robbie Daniels has discovered something that gives him even a bigger kick than his palatial homes in Detroit and Palm Beach: homicide. He's tried it, he likes it, and he'd like to keep doing it—as often as possible—with the help of a really bad ex-cop who quit the force one step away from prison stripes. Motown Detective Bryan Hurd strongly suspects that Daniels has been getting away with murder and figures a little Florida R&R might be an ideal way to keep a close eye on the slippery millionaire reptile. But Daniels has money, power, no fear, and an awesome collection of guns—and Hurd might be getting a little too close to the action. . .

It is a nasty (and nifty) little crime book, and it was so much fun to revisit it.

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

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