Funeral held for crime writer Elmore Leonard

FRIENDS, family and fans have remembered famed US crime writer Elmore Leonard during a funeral service in Detroit.

Elmore Leonard Stroke

FRIENDS, family and fans have remembered award-winning US crime writer Elmore Leonard during a funeral service in Detroit that was equal parts laughter and tears.

Son Christopher Leonard joked about the "biting sarcasm" his father had genetically bestowed upon his kids and grandkids.

Author, sports writer and friend Mike Lupica said Leonard himself would have appreciated the tone of Saturday's Mass at Holy Name Church in Birmingham.

The 87-year-old Leonard died on Tuesday in his Bloomfield Township home from complications from a stroke.

His novels include Out of Sight, Get Shorty and Freaky Deaky.

More recently, he served as executive producer of the FX drama Justified, which was based on two of his novels.

Show star Timothy Olyphant, who attended the funeral, said afterward he "felt very blessed to have known" the author.