Dutch’s Touchstones
Connections of characters, places, dialogue, and stories across Elmore Leonard’s novels and short stories — tracked by fans on The Dutch Forum discussion board.
A touchstone is “a standard or criterion by which something is judged or recognized.”
In the Dutch Forum, an independent online discussion board — a pre-social-media gathering spot for devoted readers to swap finds, debate connections, and celebrate Dutch’s razor-sharp prose — the term took on a more playful meaning: a clue, a crossover, or a hidden thread linking one Elmore Leonard work to another, revealing Dutch’s comfort with returning to familiar names, places, and ideas.
The Touchstones thread of the Dutch Forum was born in August 2002 when super-fan Joel Lyczak proposed the idea. Over the next four years, Robb, Straw, JohnnyMoreno, DK, LACrimAtty, Alvin Twilight, Cosmo, beerman, gobo, Bill Keeth and many others posted their findings.
Here are some of the best.
Detroit, Harlan, and other recurring places
Ranco Manufacturing:
Harry Mitchell’s company in 52 Pick-Up, also mentioned in Stick (Kyle suggests investing), Unknown Man #89 (husband of a woman Jack Ryan and Jay Walt serve papers on), and joked about by Debbie in Pagan Babies: “names like Timco, Ranco... you never know what they do.”Watts’ Club Mozambique:
Where Virgil Royal, Tunafish, and Raymond Gidre get killed in Unknown Man #89. In The Switch, Ordell and Louis first meet there — Louis tapping his swizzle stick to Groove Holmes, with Ordell’s line: “My man, we don’t go to your clubs and fuck with the beat, do we?”Deep Run Country Club:
Scene of Cal Maguire’s heist in Gold Coast, where Louis from The Switch recalls golfing.Harlan County, Kentucky:
Birthplace of David E. Davis (The Hunted), childhood home of Frank Long (The Moonshine War), mentioned in Unknown Man #89, and key setting for Raylan Givens in Pronto, Riding the Rap, Fire in the Hole.
Detroit Police
Maureen Downey:
Works Homicide in Split Images, Sex Crimes in Freaky Deaky (partnered with Chris Mankowski), and is married to Frank Delsa of Squad 7 in Mr. Paradise.Chris Mankowski:
Freaky Deaky’s Bomb Squad man turned Sex Crimes. Mentioned again by Val Trubucci in Mr. Paradise, who quit Bomb Squad for similar reasons.Walter Kouza:
Dirty ex-cop in Split Images, also ex-Sex Crimes.Jackie Michaels:
In Mr. Paradise, formerly Sex Crimes, dated Glenn Michaels from Out of Sight.
Character families, overlaps & lineage
The Websters:
Virgil Webster in Cuba Libre → his son Carlos in “How Carlos Webster Changed His Name...” (McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasury), whose grandson is Ben Webster in “Tenkiller” (When the Women Come Out to Dance).Jack Ryan:
Central in The Big Bounce, serves papers in Unknown Man #89, referenced by Leon Woody in Swag as “another guy named Ryan... used to play baseball.”Crowe Family:
Novis Crowe (Roland Boudreaux’s bodyguard) in Cuba Libre, Arlen Novis in Tishomingo Blues, Elvin Crowe ties Gold Coast/Maximum Bob. Also Dale Crowe Jr. in Pronto/Riding the Rap, plus the Crowe family in “Fire in the Hole.”
Leonard’s style & inside jokes
Lines echo:
Stick ends “There you are,” mirroring Frank Ryan’s “Well. Here we are.” in Swag — like a ghostly nod.Adverbs are poison:
Freaky Deaky: Robin says her books were “full of rape and adverbs.”
Split Images: Angela Nolan to Bryan Hurd: “no adverbs.”Writing philosophy embedded:
Be Cool: Chili Palmer tells Tommy Athens, “I don’t think of a plot and put characters in it. I start with different characters and see where they take me.”
Gold Coast’s Roland Crowe sums up Leonard’s character thinking: “Deal only in personal services. No lifting, no machinery. Look good, listen carefully, take a minimum of shit.”
Real names, meta nods, and cross-media jokes
Harry Dean Stanton:
Appears by name in Be Cool, “Tenkiller”, Maximum Bob, and A Coyote’s in the House, a Leonard children’s book.Gregg Sutter cameo:
In Out of Sight, Gregg (Karen’s dad’s computer whiz source) mirrors real-life researcher Gregg Sutter.Leonard’s granddaughters:
Jane & Katy appear as Fran Dunn’s daughters in Pagan Babies.
Echoed names, plots & dark fun
Same names:
Skip Gibbs in Freaky Deaky, Bob Gibbs in Maximum Bob.
Frank Renda is the villain in both Mr. Majestyk and Escape from Five Shadows (with slight tweaks).Story echoes:
Freaky Deaky’s easy chair bomb echoes toilet bomb in Lethal Weapon 2.
Ruthless People mirrors The Switch — kidnappers with no payoff.Shared criminal pasts:
Booker in Freaky Deaky, Snoopy Miller in Out of Sight, and Robert Taylor in Tishomingo Blues were all once in Detroit’s Young Boys Inc.
Tiny but telling connections
Sweetmary appears in Hombre, Gunsights, Cuba Libre, and “Hurrah for Captain Early.”
Yuma Prison (Hell-Hole on the Bluff) is central to Forty Lashes Less One and mentioned in Cuba Libre.
There are many more touchstones that I missed or that are presently unreported that are ripe for discovery. If you know of any not on this list, post them in the comments below.