Novelist Leonard To Receive PEN USA Award

(AP)  Novelist Elmore Leonard will receive PEN USA's lifetime achievement award at a December ceremony.

Leonard, 83, has written over 40 westerns, crime novels and mysteries, including "The Bounty Hunters," "Road Dogs" and "Cuba Libre."

Many of his books _ notably "Out of Sight," "Get Shorty" and "Be Cool" _ have been made into films.

Past recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award include Ray Bradbury, Woody Allen, Betty Friedan and Gore Vidal.

PEN USA is a Los Angeles-based professional writers organization.

The group's 19th Annual Literary Awards Festival will be held at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Dec. 2.