Welcome to a hard-boiled and not without noir blog with news and reviews, occasional outbursts of maniacal Autograph Hound activity, plus archival records from the forty-five year run of The Dashiell Hammett Tour. 
The Dashiell Hammett Tour
1977-2022
Arkham House Ephemera
The Classic Years 1937–1973
Death Lit
Essays and Reviews Selected from Fifty Years of Writing 1974–2024
Willeford
The Book
Category Archives: Dash
Hammett: In Re: The Midget Bandit, Reserve Today
Last minute notice! If you are in or around or willing to haul out to Fresno by 10 a.m. this coming Saturday, you can sit in on Warren Harris doing a talk on The Midget Bandit for the local Sisters … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, News
Tagged Big Read, Fresno California, Portland Oregon, The Midget Bandit, Warren Harris
Mort: Mr. Spock
Another Icon down, with the passing of Leonard Nimoy today at the age of 83. While you couldn’t really say I was ever a Trekkie, on the other hand, who the hell doesn’t like Star Trek? Maybe not all of … Continue reading
Frisco Beat: Adios, House of Fans — or, The Adventure of The Diagraph Stencil Machine
A couple of Thursdays back I did a tour by appointment for a guy who just couldn’t hit the burg on a Sunday, but didn’t seem to mind handing over bigger bucks to pay for wear-and-tear on my gumshoes and closing-in-on-forty-years of expertise. … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, News, Tour
Tagged 891 Post, 895 Post, Hammett Historic District, House of Fans, The Diagraph Company, The Maltese Arms
Hammett: On This Day
Eighty-five years ago today Alfred A. Knopf published a novel titled The Maltese Falcon — as I always say, the sickest Valentine’s Day novel ever. If they hang you — some pretty sweet talk. . . .
Hammett: KALW and the Mystery of the Black Bird
The Maltese Falcon presides over San Francisco — the novel, the film, a thousand and one statues made of plaster, the two or three (or more?) figurines wrought out of lead with a golden bronze patina — the lead ones from … Continue reading
891 Post: The Scorched Face
And today Mark Murphy pops in a photo showing off exactly how close the fire came to his windows — top floor, at right — leaving scorch marks on the south face of 891 Post. I think you’ll be able … Continue reading
891 Post: Threatened by Fire — Again
The title on the email just received from Mark Murphy, a current inhabitant of 891 Post: Major Fire at 642 Hyde almost spreads to 891 Post On the car radio around midnight I heard about a fire near the corner of … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Jeopardy! Loves Hammett Trivia
Oh, yeah — on the episode of Jeopardy! broadcast on January 9, a category in the Double Jeopardy! round was titled Arlington National Cemetery. The $2000 clew (supposedly the most difficult) read: A veteran of both world wars, this creator … Continue reading
Hammett: The Midget Bandit in Portland
I also got in a note from Warren Harris — he of the legendary Midget Bandit Week here on Up and Down These Mean Streets — who continues to delve into the life and criminal exploits of Edwin Ware. Warren … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, News
Tagged Big Read, Edwin Ware, Fresno California, Portland Oregon, Sisters-in-Crime, The Midget Bandit, Warren Harris
