Michigan author Elmore Leonard wins distinguished award

Author Leonard to receive National Book Foundation's lifetime achievement award

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Elmore Leonard will be the recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Leonard says he "was very surprised" to learn he was selected for one of the literary world's highest honors.

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The 86-year-old crime novelist from Bloomfield Township will be presented with the medal in New York on Nov. 14, the same evening this year's National Book Awards are announced.

The author of "Get Shorty," "Out of Sight" and "Glitz" tells The Associated Press he's "won a lot of awards, but not like this one."

In taking home the National Book Foundation's lifetime achievement award, Leonard joins past recipients Ray Bradbury, Norman Mailer, Toni Morrison and Tom Wolfe.

He says he's a "good writer" and doesn't "see any objection to" him "being on this list."