Even though best-selling author Elmore Leonard was featured on the cover of the New York Times Sunday Magazine earlier this month, he was determined to hold the national release of his new novel, The Hot Kid, in one of the cities where the story is set--Tulsa. More specifically, he chose the Mayo Hotel and Thursday, May 12, 2005, 500 guests came to the Mayo, a key location in The Hot Kid, to hear Leonard read excerpts from his favorite fan letters and share his "Ten Rules for Writing." The event, sponsored by the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers at OSU-Tulsa and the Mayo Hotel, also featured Leonard in a book signing that launched The Hot Kid tour.

Leonard first visited Tulsa last year when he was researching the novel and met with Tori Snyder at the Mayo to learn more about the hotel's colorful history. Snyder then joined forces with Teresa Miller, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers, to plan what Miller calls, "a landmark occasion for Tulsa."

"Leonard is a literary icon," Miller states, "and the fact that he chose to come to Tulsa with The Hot Kid before going to Los Angeles and New York is a real cause for celebration."

On behalf of Mayor Robert LaFortune, Karen Keith proclaimed May 12th, 2005, Elmore Leonard Day in the city of Tulsa. Later in the evening, Secretary of State Susan Savage officially welcomed Leonard to Oklahoma and read a proclamation from Governor Brad Henry, declaring the date Elmore Leonard Day throughout the state.

Before becoming one of the country's leading crime writers, Leonard wrote many classic westerns such as Hombre, and OSU-Tulsa's Gary Trennepohl presented him with a bronze replica of Remington's "The Bronco Buster" to commemorate his early body of work.

A special highlight of the evening was author Michael Wallis's rousing introduction of Leonard. Wallis, introduced as Oklahoma's literary ambassador to the world at large, spoke eloquently of 1920's and 1930's Oklahoma, the era depicted in The Hot Kid.

Elmore Leonard himself brought his Tulsa visit to the perfect close by announcing he is already writing the sequel to The Hot Kid, which will also be set in Oklahoma. So this celebration of Leonard's literary connection to Tulsa is "to be continued."

Visit the Elmore Leonard website: www.elmoreleonard.com.

–The Philadelphia Inquirer