Category Archives: Frisco

Mort: Gus Konstin

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Don

And Brian Wallace just popped me the sad news from the San Francisco Chronicle that Gus Konstin — owner of John’s Grill — has died. Under Gus’s tenure, the grill set up the various tributes to Hammett, in celebration of … Continue reading →

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Frisco Beat: Stanley C. Sargent

Posted on March 25, 2018 by Don

Counting down to the showing of Lon Chaney’s The Penalty in the Old Mint next Thursday — which I chalk up as one of the successful ideas I pitched to the Tenderloin Museum when they were asking what other programs … Continue reading →

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Frisco Beat: Lon Chaney Hits the Old Mint Again!

Posted on March 16, 2018 by Don

If you’ve ever caught the 1920 Lon Chaney silent flick The Penalty, you no doubt remember the sequence where Lon and his mob are looting the Old Mint on the corner of Fifth and Mission. On Thursday March 29 — and, … Continue reading →

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Rediscovered: Me and Willeford in a Comic Book

Posted on February 7, 2018 by Don

Brian Van Gold of Oakland just did a little homegrown comic book featuring me and Willeford — mostly Willeford. I show up in a one-page anecdote illustrating the time Willeford informed me that All Great Literature is Depressing. I think this … Continue reading →

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Frisco Beat: Back to the TL Museum for The Penalty

Posted on December 28, 2017 by Don

At top and bottom, a couple of shots from my July 13 appearance in the Tenderloin Museum, talking up The Thin Man and with some snippets of the 1931 Falcon — high point being when we spotted the heart of the … Continue reading →

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Frisco Beat: Connie di Marco Brings Another Zodiac to Town

Posted on December 27, 2017 by Don

For her second Zodiac series psychic mystery, Connie di Marco did one of those blog tours to promo the title — and since the action is set in San Francisco, provides her own survey of criminous fiction and film on the topic. … Continue reading →

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Frisco Beat: “Bob” Harrington’s The Stag

Posted on December 9, 2017 by Don

Remember the blast-from-the-past childhood memories Kent Harrington was having when I toured him and his French translator around the burg a little over a year ago? He talked about his dad working in all sorts of buildings along Market Street … Continue reading →

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Frisco Beat: Corpse Reviver

Posted on August 21, 2017 by Don

Joe Hagen sent me the shot you see before your eyes — Joe’s part of the secret junto of thinkers and drinkers who meet in and around 891 Post Street. I’d just mentioned going to Stookey’s for a Corpse Reviver, … Continue reading →

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Hammett: Popping into Stookey’s

Posted on August 20, 2017 by Don

A Sunday or three back I was in Frisco, just hanging out, and stopped into Stookey’s for a pop. I needed a Corpse Reviver No. 2 to keep the old corpse going, and they’ll always shake one up for me, even … Continue reading →

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Hammett: High Ticket

Posted on July 7, 2017 by Don

I don’t keep close track, but I am well aware prices on first editions of Hammett’s novels have jumped into the big money — kicked off by the legendary 1981 auction of the Adrian Goldstone crime fiction collection here in … Continue reading →

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