Category Archives: Lit

Mort: John Jakes

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Don

It’s time to mention his name in Atlantis. Brian Leno popped the news to me that John Jakes died Saturday March 18, age 90. Jakes was one of the most commercially successful writers to emerge from the paperback originals and … Continue reading →

Posted in Lit, News, REH | Tagged , , , |

Rediscovered: An Item of Modern Arkham House Ephemera

Posted on February 16, 2023 by Don

John D. Haefele and I actually have been slaving away on a book on Arkham House ephemera from the Classic Years — 1937-1972. We’ve got guys eyeballing some of the largest private collections (as I post, one stalwart has the … Continue reading →

Posted in Lit, News | Tagged , , , , |

Rediscovered: Every Other Day Birthdays

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Don

The noted book and pulp collector Kevin Cook spotted a fantasy writer trend and reported in: January 20            A. Merritt January 22            Robert E. Howard January 24            C.L. Moore January 26            Philip Jose Farmer

Posted in Lit, News | Tagged |

Hammett: Jeopardy! Hits Nick and Nora (And Glass Onion Cameos the Black Bird)

Posted on December 26, 2022 by Don

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 , , , , , |

891 Post: Minwax Gel Cherrywood

Posted on December 25, 2022 by Don

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: Enter the Apartment

Posted on December 24, 2022 by Don

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 →

Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit | Tagged , , , |

Frisco Beat: A Pop in the Ha-Ra

Posted on December 24, 2022 by Don

Last month I mentioned that the staining on the woodwork in the Sam Spade apartment in 891 Post is just wrong — it looks very, very nice, but it’s wrong. Although I was pretty casual about it, I did think … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit | Tagged , , , |

Posse McMillan: A Jim Nisbet Memory

Posted on December 17, 2022 by Don

I cannot say that I knew the late Jim Nisbet well — went to his house in one of the alleys off Hayes and Laguna two or three times, mostly because Dennis McMillan happened to be visiting at the moment. … Continue reading →

Posted in DMac, Frisco, Lit | Tagged , , , |

Rediscovered: For the Q&A

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Don

Toward the Q&A following the screening of The Woman Chaser with Patrick Warburton in the role of Richard Hudson, I poked around in my book Willeford for any tidbits of info on the novel — a Paperback Original released by … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Lit, News, Willeford | Tagged , , , |

Sinister Cinema: The Woman Chaser

Posted on December 13, 2022 by Don

Joe McSpadden, producer for 1999’s The Woman Chaser, mentioned that the December 7 showing in the Alamo Drafthouse put the movie on the largest screen ever — swell deal for cineastes. Above, a still frame of star Patrick Warburton as … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Frisco, Lit, News, Willeford | Tagged , , , , , |