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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: 92 Years Ago Today
Valentine’s Day — for some reason or just random coincidence, one of those beams falling you hear about, in 1930 the Alfred A. Knopf company selected this date for the official publication of a little noir love story titled The … Continue reading
Hammett: Hollywood Goes Sports Mad
Terry Zobeck, back on the Mean Streets — and today he tells us about “a tongue-in-cheek article that Hammett published in 1934” with a link to its appearance in the November 8, 1934 issue of the Hartford Courant. “I verified … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film
Tagged Bill Mullins, Elise De Viane, Hartford Courant, Mollie Merrick, newspaper action, Richard Layman, Terry Zobeck
Rediscovered: Nosing Around in Newsprint
Noted book and pulp collector Kevin Cook sends along some more food for thought, following up the musings he closed out the last year on. Here’s Kevin: The newspaper reprint phenomenon has more elements than we have touched on. For … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit
Tagged Akron Beacon Journal, Argosy All-Story Weekly, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Frank A. Munsey, Homer Eon Flint, Kevin Cook, newspaper action
Hammett: “Creeping Siamese” Down Under
The Hammett newspaper reprint action keeps churning! Terry Zobeck popped me a note taking the search for newsprint Op yarns Down Under. Even my informants have informants. Here’s Terry: Our correspondent from Australia, Warren “Woz” Sproule, from a few years … Continue reading
Hammett: Another Top Tenner
Brian Leno let me know that an Op story cracked The Top Ten list for Library of America’s Story of the Week feature in 2021. “The Gutting of Couffignal.” One of the yarns in Hammett’s white-hot burst of Op action … Continue reading
Hammett: From Ape-Wrangler to Town-Tamer
The other day Evan Lewis tracked down another “lost” movie version of Red Harvest, that would have followed the “lost” version starring Alan Ladd at Paramount — Ladd’s being juggled in 1941 and this next version getting a big blurb … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film
Tagged Alan Ladd, Brian Leno, Bruce Cabot, Evan Lewis, Fay Wray, John Wayne, Paramount, Red Harvest
Hammett: More Dashiells
I did a quick Dashiell Hammett Tour by appointment on Saturday the 18th. Initially the guy had Monday the 13th in mind — you know, the day one of those atmospheric rivers unloaded the agua on the mean streets all … Continue reading
Rediscovered: ERB in the Papers, Too
The noted book and pulp collector Kevin Cook sent in some additional thoughts and info on the idea of writers such as Hammett getting a ton of newspaper action with reprints — lots of reprints — from their backlog. Kevin approaches … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit, News
Tagged A. L. Searles, All Around, Edgar Rice Burroughs, J. Allen St. John, Kevin Cook, Street & Smith
Hammett: Two Sharp Knives on Early Television
Terry Zobeck has been investigating that 1949 TV show where Dashiell Hammett pulls a Hitchcock and delivers a couple of lines — to date, the only recording of Hammett’s voice to turn up. “I watched Two Sharp Knives this afternoon,” … Continue reading
Hammett: His Garbo Speaks! Moment
Holy cow — suddenly it is Audio Hound Super-Sunday! And longtime Mean Streets maven Terry Zobeck just heard some sound he’s been waiting to hear for many, many long years. Here’s Terry with the scoop: In 2001, at the Washington, … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, News
Tagged "Two Sharp Knives", Bill Mullins, Dick Tracy, Jo Hammett, Richard Layman, Studio One, Thomas Fasano
