Welcome to a hard-boiled and not without noir blog with news and reviews, occasional outbursts of maniacal Autograph Hound activity, plus archival records from the forty-five year run of The Dashiell Hammett Tour. 
The Dashiell Hammett Tour
1977-2022
Arkham House Ephemera
The Classic Years 1937–1973
Death Lit
Essays and Reviews Selected from Fifty Years of Writing 1974–2024
Willeford
The Book
Monthly Archives: January 2015
Rediscovered: Joe Memoli, Made Man
Heading up for Xmas dinner with Floyd Salas reminded me that a little over a year ago I promised to correct something else on the website. Now I’ve just been back up to the Floyd lair last weekend for his … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Boxing, Floyd Salas, Frank Sinatra, Golden Gloves, Iris Odonata, Joe Memoli, Oakland California, Tower of Power
891 Post: The Scorched Face
And today Mark Murphy pops in a photo showing off exactly how close the fire came to his windows — top floor, at right — leaving scorch marks on the south face of 891 Post. I think you’ll be able … Continue reading
891 Post: Threatened by Fire — Again
The title on the email just received from Mark Murphy, a current inhabitant of 891 Post: Major Fire at 642 Hyde almost spreads to 891 Post On the car radio around midnight I heard about a fire near the corner of … Continue reading
Rediscovered: “Lost” Lovecraft in the Ransom Center
And just in time to serve as additional background for the Weird Tales panel planned for PulpFest — the panel to cover the editorial policies of longtime WT editor Farnsworth Wright, but of course concentrating on how those often bizarre … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Farnsworth Wright, Humanities Research Center, Lovecraft, PulpFest, Weird Tales
Rediscovered: Lost Books of the Amazon
After who knows how many years of goofing off, I finally got around to getting my Author Page on Amazon looking pretty. Some photos, a basic blurb, updates fed in from this blog — and a few but by no means all … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, Lit, News
Tagged Alfa Romeo Club, Amazon, Hammett Tour Book, Kindle, Literary World of San Francisco, North Beach
Rediscovered: Dustjackets for Derleth
Even though we are nearing the end of over four months in release, it is still fun for me to keep track of how A Look Behind the Derleth Mythos by my pal John D. Haefele is doing on the … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, Lit, News
Tagged August Derleth, Book Collecting, Brian Leno, Cthulhu Mythos, John D. Haefele, Lovecraft, PulpFest
Frisco Beat: Home of the Hoodlum
I’m always interested in slang, and one tidbit I picked up somewhere is that the term “hoodlum” originated in San Francisco — seems like it should have jumped to life in Brooklyn, or the London slums, but no. Right here. … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Better Off Ted Season Two
Recently on his blog James Reasoner did a blurb for the Brit sitcom The IT Crowd, which sounded like something I’d like — yep, hilarious. So I just returned the favor and suggested he look up Better Off Ted. I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Film, News
Tagged "Hoke", Better Off Ted, James Reasoner, Lem Hewitt, Mission Control, My Name Is Earl, Phil Myman, The IT Crowd
Rediscovered: Jeopardy! Loves Hammett Trivia
Oh, yeah — on the episode of Jeopardy! broadcast on January 9, a category in the Double Jeopardy! round was titled Arlington National Cemetery. The $2000 clew (supposedly the most difficult) read: A veteran of both world wars, this creator … Continue reading
