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About DonHerron.com
In 1977 Don Herron began leading The Dashiell Hammett Tour, now the longest-running literary tour in the nation. On this site you’ll find information on current walks — dates, where to meet, arranging tours by appointment — plus a hard-boiled blog with news, reviews of books and film, and a dash of noir.
The latest and greatest edition to self-guide you up and down the mean streets.
Willeford: The Book
Includes the first “Mr. Hunt” story, “Knives in the Dark.”
Monthly Archives: January 2011
Posse McMillan: 60, and Counting
You’ve heard of Posse Comitatus, the version where you round up your gang and roar off after whoever needs to be run down. This on-going feature follows in the dust trail of Posse McMillan, rounding up news and views from the stable … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Floyd, the Big 8, Still Straight
On January 22nd a big bash was held to celebrate Floyd Salas hitting 80 years of age — his actual birthday falls on the 23rd, but people were confident he’d make it another day, so the party was on. For … Continue reading
Frisco Beat: Native Son
Editor Matthew Asprey got a copy to me of his collection of Jack London’s best tales set in and around San Francisco, including the complete Tales of the Fish Patrol — and “South of the Slot,” the London yarn selected … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, Lit, Tour
Tagged 1906 Quake and Fire, Jack London, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Peter Maravelis, San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics
Tour: Sunday February 27
Some people gave me that one month or more lead time I like, and asked for a walk. If interested, anyone can saddle up and join them for a tour one month from today on Sunday February 27 — open to all. Just … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Notes on Wetjen by Ed Price
Sometimes the prolific pulp writer E. Hoffmann Price would make a single notation in a book from his library, other times no marks at all. One time I visited him in his home in the hills above Redwood City just as he was … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Frisco, Lit
Tagged Albert Richard Wetjen, Arkham House, Autographs, E. Hoffmann Price, Herb Caen, J. Dan Price, Jim Tully, Pulps, Samuel W. Taylor, The Book of the Dead
Sinister Cinema: Then & Now
Okay, tomorrow (thunderous drum roll, please) Noir City opens in the cavernous Castro Theatre, and if you’d like to check out locations from some of the movies showcased in past years that were shot on location here in San Francisco, have I got the … Continue reading
Suicide Club: Locked Room Poet
I’d fact-check before I put it in a book, but memory tells me that Gary Warne ended up in San Francisco because his pals from West Virginia, the Breiding clan, came here first. Within a few years Gary launched The … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: More Cheese
Five days from now Noir City opens its ten-day run in The Castro Theatre, each double-bill introduced by the Voice of Noir, Bill Arney. As mentioned earlier, Bill also has another movie gig going with his late-night show Cheese Theatre. … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Manchette
Finally. More Jean-Patrick Manchette makes the leap into English-language print. After nine years. Powers-That-Be, come on, speed it up. In March 2002 City Lights Noir created a shockwave among noir cognoscenti with Donald Nicholson-Smith’s riveting translation of Three to Kill, Manchette’s 1976 thriller … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, Willeford
Tagged City Lights, David Goodis, Donald Westlake, Manchette, New York Review Books, Red Harvest
