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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.”
Category Archives: Dash
Hammett: Jeopardy! Hits Nick and Nora (And Glass Onion Cameos the Black Bird)
Jeopardy! hasn’t hit the Hammett clew pile lately as much as it did back in the Golden Age of Alex Trebek. But every now and then they just can’t avoid it. . . . For the show broadcast December 23rd, … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Lit, News
Tagged Alex Trebek, Bill Arney, Glass Onion, Jeopardy!, Madelyn Cline, Rian Johnson
891 Post: In Memoriam Bill Arney
Front, Bill Arney at the dedication ceremony for the plaque on 891 Post Street, March 17, 2005. Behind him, on the right, Jo Hammett, youngest daughter of Dashiell Hammett.
891 Post: The Hidey Hole
On September 20, 2009 I took a shot of the hidden compartment Bill Arney had — mysteriously — set in the floor of the Sam Spade apartment. I guess he figured, Why not? Out of all the Herculean effort Bill … Continue reading
891 Post: Nicotine Yellow
The corner outside the door into the kitchen in the Sam Spade apartment shows some of the roughest rough stage work as Bill Arney labored to get the place ready for a new inhabitant. You can see some of the … Continue reading
891 Post: Minwax Gel Cherrywood
As a little Xmas present — and to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the death of Bill Arney on September 28, 2021 — let’s take a look into the Sam Spade apartment in 891 Post Street. The date was September … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit
Tagged 891 Post, Bill Arney, Joe Hagen, Mark Murphy, Minwax Gel Cherrywood, Murphy bed
891 Post: Enter the Apartment
On September 20, 2009 I gumshoed up to the gate of 891 Post. Corner of Hyde. In the night, the plaque we’d put on the building early in 2005 to commemorate the residence of Dashiell Hammett gave off a dim … Continue reading
Hammett: Jeopardy! Strikes Back!
After a furious release, one after another, over years, Hammett clews suddenly became scarce on Jeopardy! with the passing of the great Alex Trebek. I was thinking maybe the clew guy who liked to mine Hammett had left the staff … Continue reading
Hammett: At the Commodore
Gary Romeo, perhaps best known in recent years as a staunch booster of L. Sprague de Camp, pops in some history, illustrated: “About 15 years ago I went to the Harry Ransom Center and scanned a bunch of de Camp … Continue reading
Posted in Dash
Tagged 4th American Writers Congress, Autographs, Commodore Hotel, Gary Romeo, Harry Ransom Center, L. Sprague de Camp
Hammett: “Girl Trap”
Our Mean Streets buddy of many years, Mike Humbert, recently got a fascinating tidbit about Hammett tossed his way from Italy — to add to the info on his own Dashiell Hammett website. Mike punted the info to me, to … Continue reading
Posted in Dash
Tagged "Girl Trap", Agnelli Tiziano, Mike Humbert, Nerbini Editore, newspaper action, Saturday Home Magazine
