Monthly Archives: March 2019

Rediscovered: From One Derleth Devotee to Another

And after word got around that Wilum Pugmire took his last breath on the 26th, John D. Haefele sent along the following in memoriam statement: I was deeply saddened by news of Wilum Pugmire’s death. I never met him in … Continue reading

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Mort: Hopfrog Nevermore

The month of March adds another death to its grim stats with the passing at age 67 of Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire, May 3 1951-March 26 2019. Got to give him a mention here if only because of his introduction to … Continue reading

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Frisco Beat: At Least One Guy Hits the Century Mark

Doing a quick check of the net, it looks as if Lawrence Ferlinghetti turns 100 years old today. The event could have slipped past my radar, except a few days ago I got a deluxe one-sheet poem from D. S. … Continue reading

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Mort: Ten Years After Tompk

Hard to believe it was ten years ago today when Steve Tompkins punched his ticket. Only 48 years old, hospitalized for food poisoning after hitting Burger King, then out of the blue a heart attack. If they can’t handle a … Continue reading

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Tour: Some Media No More

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon — and who knows?, maybe for the rest of your life — the Some Media clump in the banner above is going to disappear. Every few years I dink around with the … Continue reading

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Frisco Beat: Anniversary 101 for Stan McNail

As it turned out, the first installment of my short-lived review column for Lit, a literary supplement for The San Francisco Bay Guardian, hit print in May 1995 — timing that allowed me to wrap up the piece with a … Continue reading

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Hammett: Zobeck v. Otto

Just got a note from Terry Zobeck commenting on the auction of Hammett titles from the library of Otto Penzler. Terry reports: “I lost out on that Red Harvest—I went as high as $70,000 but had to stop when my … Continue reading

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Hammett: Chump Change

Evan Lewis, my de facto reporter on the ground for news of the auction of books from the Otto Penzler collection — which is to say, I’m never going to bother to follow something like that, whereas Evan is covering it like … Continue reading

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Death Lit: Is It Noir or Is It Dark?

Had another review pop to life. If you want to surf over and give it the old gander, feel free. I figure this one, more or less, is maybe 80% of what I sent in/intended. The intro by Lawrence Block, … Continue reading

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Hammett: A Paperback for Lillian Hellman

Apparently a large chunk out of Otto Penzler’s personal collection is going on the block over the next year or two. I know this news because A) it is public information, no black cats out of the bag or anything, … Continue reading

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