What Are the Legacies the Great Writers Leave Us?

This week the iconic crime fiction writer Elmore Leonard passed away at age 87. He enjoyed a long distinguished career and made legions of fans. I've read some heartfelt articles on him, and I share in the readers' profound sense of loss and sadness. Such author giants as James Crumley and Robert B. Parker also died in the past few years. The most long term fitting tribute I can think of is to continue reading and discussing their books. Try to get the next generations of readers excited about what they wrote and published. As for me, I recently read Elmore Leonard's Western title Hombre, and if a better Western has been written, I haven't yet gotten around to reading it. I also watched the same-titled movie starring Paul Newman, and immensely enjoyed it. I read in Mr. Leonard's obituary the commercial success of Hombre is what allowed him to keep writing his fiction. Thank goodness he wrote it. At some point in the near future, I'll sit down and reread Hombre. And I bet it will be even sweeter, too.