Political Quotes

“Madam President, when Michigan novelist Elmore Leonard passed away on August 20, the world lost an irreplaceable voice, a witty creator of unlikely and unforgettable characters who, like their creator, knew the value of brevity. Leonard's novels took place in the American West, in the Everglades, in the Horn of Africa or the streets of Havana, but they always carried a little of his hometown, Detroit. His protagonists, like his hometown, were tough and gruff, but loveable and good-hearted, people of few words but bold actions. Like his hometown, Leonard's writing was without pretense or formality. ``If it sounds like writing,'' he said, ``I rewrote it.'' The New York Times accurately described Leonard as ``A Man of Few, Yet Perfect, Words.'' In 2001, he wrote for The Times a short essay on his tips for writers, titled, ``Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle.'' Their aim, he said, was to ``remain invisible when I'm writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what's taking place in the story.'' His rules for writing are useful for all of us who write and want to be read, and I ask unanimous consent that they be printed in the Record. The world has lost a great writer. I have lost a friend.…”