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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: May 2022
Hammett: The Noir Croissant
Brian Wallace updates the news regarding Clive Owen playing Sam Spade, after Sam has moved to France, it’s circa 1963, and a plot is brewing. First, The Ronin blurbs the project and speculates who might pick it up — they … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Primeval Arkham House Ephemera
John D. Haefele and I, marching deeper into the thick of the Arkham ephemera jungle, plug away on a book intended to cover each and every Item from the Classic Years when August Derleth and Donald Wandrei were in the … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Arkham House, August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith, Donald Wandrei, John D. Haefele, Julie Matthews
Hammett: A Newsprint Hodgepodge
Today Evan Lewis put up a clump of fun newspaper clippings which mention Hammett, even naming the mysterious yarn “The Tale of Two Women,” which you may never have heard of. (Back in 2011 Terry Zobeck solved that story title … Continue reading
Hammett: “Siamese” Getting Around
Evan Lewis recently did a post on the Hammett yarn “The Creeping Siamese,” and now Brian Leno tells me that Library of America have picked it up for their Story of the Week — using the same illo Evan scoured … Continue reading
Posted in Dash
Tagged "The Creeping Siamese", Brian Leno, Evan Lewis, Library of America, newspaper action
Rediscovered: W. R. Burnett on Defund the Police
A few weeks ago I finally got around to reading the heist-gone-wrong classic The Asphalt Jungle from 1949 by W. R. Burnett. With his first novel in 1929, Little Caesar, Burnett made his name. A cornerstone of crime fiction, the … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Val Lewton
Autograph Hound Saturday once more, and Brian Leno is back to give us a glance at one of his most recent acquisitions in the Department of Serious John Hancocks. Take it, Brian: I haven’t seen too many Val Lewton signatures … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Lit
Tagged Autographs, Boris Karloff, Brian Leno, James T. Farrell, Val Lewton, Weird Tales
Tour: Inquiries Welcome
For the Dashiell Hammett Tour I have drifted over largely into doing Tours by Appointment. Kind of inevitable. Easier. Better money. After 45 years, bound to happen. And I still meet people who ask me how many times a day … Continue reading
Mort: Fred Ward
After the fact, word drifted in that Fred Ward died on Sunday May 9 at the age of 79. Got to note it here since — as pictured above — Fred was the first to essay the role of Charles … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Another “Lost” Arkham
As usual, I was sitting around minding my own business, collecting Arkham House ephemera, when I realized I might have spotted another “lost” Arkham House book. For decades fans have been noting books that once may have made it into … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Arkham House, August Derleth, Charles Beaumont, John D. Haefele, Mildred Clingerman
