Crime novelist Elmore Leonard, wife divorce

The reasons behind a divorce are often private (as they should be, since is a deeply personal decision). This is not usually how it goes with celebrities, however, since people are so interested in every detail of their lives. But the case of popular crime novelist Elmore Leonard bucks that trend. Reporters in his native Detroit only recently learned that Leonard his wife of 18 years are separating and the reasons behind the divorce are (surprise, surprise) a mystery.

If Leonard’s name is not familiar to people in Milwaukee, his work certainly is. Over his 60-year career, he has written dozen of crime bestsellers. Several of his works, including “3:10 to Yuma” have been turned into hit movies. He has also written screenplays for the FOX TV show “Justified.”

Evidently, Leonard and his wife Christine began the separation process very quietly earlier this year. In May, she filed for divorce and cited a breakdown of the marriage, but did not offer any details The Leonards are a very private couple, so news of their separation only became known after a reporter came across records of the separation filed with Oakland Circuit Court in Michigan.

One rather unusual aspect to the Leonards’ divorce is that Christine Leonard has sought a restraining order against Elmore Leonard that would prevent him from making any big changes to the couple’s assets, such as altering life insurance plans or transferring large amounts of money. She has asked that he continue to pay her living expenses as the two of them work out the divorce. She probably made this request because Leonard’s earnings as an author made up the bulk of their likely considerable fortune.

Source: The Detroit News, “Author Elmore Leonard, wife to divorce,” Mike Martindale, Oct. 20, 2011