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Forgotten Treasures: A Symposium

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Elmore Leonard is the author of numerous novels, including, most recently, "Be Cool."

I have to go with Richard Bissell (1913-1977) as an American writer who is sorely neglected--emphasis on American. He wrote “High Water” and “A Stretch on the River” among others, novels set on the Mississippi River. Bissell is the only American writer since Mark Twain, who wasn’t bad either, with a license to pilot river boats. He also wrote “7-1/2 Cents,” which was adapted as the musical “The Pajama Game.” I learned three-quarters of what I know about writing from reading Richard Bissell, God bless him.

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