Monthly Archives: June 2012

Hammett: The Big 88

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Don

My spies out there in the world, always keeping an eye on the news, have alerted me to the latest honor for the author who makes The Dashiell Hammett Tour the rollicking fun ride that it is: Hammett’s Red Harvest has … Continue reading →

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Hammett: More “Op” Coinage

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Don

After his first stab at tracking down when the term “The Continental Op” came into play, Terry Zobeck returns to the pulps and books to search for more clews. When last seen he had found the Continental Op — cap C, … Continue reading →

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Hammett: Some Media Some More

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Don

Just got a note from Evan Lewis tipping me off to a BBC production of Secret Agent X-9 — originally a newspaper comic strip written by Hammett and drawn by Alex (Flash Gordon) Raymond. A little neo-Old Time Radio, for … Continue reading →

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Hollywood Beat: Mrs. Parker and the Literary Circle

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Don

The LAVA Literary Salon that meets in Musso & Frank has a new meeting scheduled on Dorothy Parker and F. Scott Fitzgerald — sold out already! I missed their first meeting, on John Fante, but was in M&F only a couple … Continue reading →

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Hammett: Coining “The Continental Op”

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Don

Was it Cap Shaw? Was it some unheralded editorial assistant? Terry Zobeck plunged into his Black Mask collection to check on who first used the coinage “The Continental Op” to describe Hammett’s short fat Frisco sleuth. That’s with a capital … Continue reading →

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Tour: More Writers Who Have Walked the Walk

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Don

Remember the “guy from Australia” who asked for the tour on June 17? Turns out he was none other than Christopher Sequeria, big into Sherlock Holmes, with sidelines in horror, comic book scripting, etc & etc. When I found that … Continue reading →

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Tour: Sunday July 1

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Don

The next walk anyone can show up for, no reservations, no questions asked, will be Sunday July 1. The usual routine. Four hours. $10 per person. Start at noon near the revolving “L” sculpture. The shot above may be of … Continue reading →

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Hammett: A Couple of Thoughts on Including Murder

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Don

As I’ve been brooding over the Robert S. Powell article about the first Continental Op collection Including Murder, two kind of random thoughts hit me: First, Powell describes the emendations in pencil on the tearsheets as being done in a … Continue reading →

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Two-Gun Bob: PulpFest 2012

Posted on June 17, 2012 by Don

Among other things PulpFest is going to commemorate this year will be the eightieth anniversary of the coming of Robert E. Howard’s Conan — exploding into the culture in the December 1932 issue of Weird Tales. In many ways, and given that Howard … Continue reading →

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Hammett: The Lineup for Including Murder

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Don

If you don’t have the issue of Clues with the Robert S. Powell article on Including Murder, you may wonder which stories would have made up what would have been Hammett’s first book, if it had been published — all Continental Op tales … Continue reading →

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