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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: September 2018
Tour: Some (Semi-Complicated) October Walks
Shot above: standing on the n.e. corner of Geary and Mason for a tour by appointment with Sisters in Crime, Saturday August 5, 2017. Looking west out Geary, the old Geary Theatre looming above the first red car. . . … Continue reading
Posted in Tour
Tagged "Whosis Kid", Blanco's, Geary Street, Geary Theatre, Larkin Street, Mason Street, Olive Street, Sisters-in-Crime, Tenderloin
Frisco Beat: Alas, Poor Blanco’s! I Knew It, Horatio. . .
You know how it is, you go in for triple bypass surgery and someone figures you’re gone for sure, The Defender of the Faith is down by the wayside, and it’s now safe to paint over the tragically faded lettering … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Tour
Tagged Blanco's, Great American Music Hall, Larkin Street, Olive Street
Rediscovered: Oakley Hall and 1940s California
If you want to check it out, my latest review for PW just popped. The gist and much of the wordage is mine (if you can’t tell the especially distinct Don Herron touch, you’re unfamiliar with my writings of the … Continue reading
Hammett: Zobeck Research Cited, Too
I whipped together a quick post the other day after noticing Mean Streets buddy and Hammett biographer Nathan Ward got some mentions in Anne Diebel’s article for Paris Review titled “Dashiell Hammett’s Strange Career.” Like I said, I gave it a casual gander, … Continue reading
Suicide Club: Roscoe Arbuckle Kidnapped Caper
On a rotting wharf over the Islais Creek channel, a climactic gundown gets a reenactment — left to right, R. Faraday Nelson as Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle (but I’m thinking Ray’s major claim to immortality probably is serving as the model for Roy Batty … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit, SFSC
Tagged Black Rock Desert, Bladerunner, Burning Man, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Fatty Arbuckle, Islais Creek, John Law, Philip K. Dick, R. Faraday Nelson, Roy Batty
Hammett: A Strange Career? You Decide!
Brian Wallace just dropped a link into my Inbox, Anne Diebel in The Paris Review ruminating on Hammett’s career as a writer — and much of it seems to be riffing off Nathan Ward’s bio The Lost Detective. Kind of like … Continue reading
Hammett: Some Corrections If You Please
Awhile back I did a link to a review of The Big Book of the Continental Op by Jesse Sublett. I’m sure there are numerous reviews of Big Book of the Op I haven’t linked to yet, and never will, … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, DMac
Tagged Bouchercon, Jesse Sublett, Measures of Poison, PulpFest, Terry Zobeck, The Big Book of the Continental Op
Sinister Cinema: A Heist Flick, with Jagger
And a Tip of the Fedora to John Hocking, who popped in the news that Mick Jagger has been plugged into the cast for the movie of The Burnt Orange Heresy. The more potentially distressing news unveiled by Variety portrays the … Continue reading
