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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: July 2014
Rediscovered: Another Manchette Down
While I wasn’t paying close attention, New York Review Books has slipped another novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette into English translation — excellent. Only took them three years, but that is much better than the previous gap of nine years between … Continue reading
Blog: Say “Cheese”
In the shot above — used previously for a post of yesteryear — Bill Arney stands against the frame of the Murphy bed in Sam Spade’s apartment in 891 Post Street and regales a tour group with some anecdotage. Bill … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Tom Kakonis
On the tour Sunday various people asked me at various times as we hiked along whether or not Pinkerton’s was still around — couldn’t say for sure, but something easy to Google up and resolve. Not that any of us … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News, Tour
Tagged Armored, Armored Car Robbery, Brash Books, Criss Cross, Palookaville, Tom Kakonis
Sinister Cinema: In Hilly Alabam
When last seen here on Up and Down These Mean Streets, Hollywood tour guide Charlie Morfin supplied us with a shot of the Dashiell Hammett Street sign when they got the spelling wrong — white hot news back in 2011, kicked … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Frisco, News
Tagged Alabama Hills, Budd Boetticher, Burritt alley, Burritt alley plaque, Charlie Morfin, Elwood alley, Henry Silva, Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, The Tall T
Tour: Hot Off the Mean Streets
My gumshoes have barely stopped smoking after leading the tour yesterday and I learn that Bill O’Such already has a photo gallery up for any and all to see. He wasn’t lugging around that camera just for grins. You’ve got some shots of … Continue reading
Tour: July 20 AND July 27
Okay, kind of last second, but some people asked about a tour on Sunday July 27 — and you may consider it a Go. I figure the New York Times article may have kicked up enough dust to cause way … Continue reading
Rediscovered: The Death of Willeford’s Grandfather
Michael S. Chong keeps surfing the net, looking for stray tidbits concerning the late great Charles Willeford. In with some other info he sent the above clipping, saying: “As a bonus, a small biographical detail in the column ‘The Time Has … Continue reading
Posted in Willeford
Tagged Ben Wasson, Delta Democrat Times, Greenville Mississippi, Michael S. Chong
Frisco Beat: The Bragg Series by Jack Lynch
A new publisher operating under the handle Brash Books caught my attention recently — they’re planning on doing eBooks of the Tom Kakonis backlist, all of it, I think. Great news. Even better news: they’re prepping a NEW Kakonis crime … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, Lit, News
Tagged Bragg, Brash Books, Jack Lynch, San Francisco Mysteries, Tom Kakonis
Noir: Bum Rap
Andre Hunt of Smokin’ Mirrors dropped me a note about checking out his film Bum Rap: A Noir Fantasy — much of it shot in North Beach and Chinatown. Not a lot of plot, but it is as much surrealist as … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: Adios, Tuco
While I’m not even trying to mention the passing of every movie star, I’ve got to acknowledge the death of Eli Wallach (1915-2014) on June 24, taking out another third of the trinity from The Good, the Bad, and the … Continue reading
