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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: Lit
Rediscovered: A. Merritt’s Ishtar
The fantasy writer A. Merritt was born on this date in 1884 and to commemorate the occasion Kevin Cook, noted book and pulp collector, decided to trot out yet another John Hancock from his trove of Merritt signatures. Kevin spills … Continue reading
Rediscovered: The Self-Driving Car in 1963
I pretty much knew doing the little article on David (Kavin’s World) Mason for the new Bill Breiding zine would rekindle my interest in researching that largely forgotten San Francisco writer. Stumbling across my file of info from the early … Continue reading
Rediscovered: A Line or Two on Fiction Mag Word Rates
And John Locke sent in some thoughts on the large trove of Munsey cheques from which we’ve run any number of samples in recent months. “Weinberg used to auction batches of those checks,” John says, “at Windy City and Pulpcon. … Continue reading
Mort: The Late Great Joseph A. West
Today would have been birthday number 98 for Joseph A. West, who sometimes signed his funky eldritch art as Joe West, and often as JAW. Old Uncle Joe didn’t quite make it, passing away on December 11, 2019. As I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Carl Jacobi, Donald Wandrei, Eric Carlson, Joe West, Lovecraft, Richard L. Tierney
Rediscovered: More Ace and Parker
Coincidentally, the topic of Ace Atkins and Robert B. Parker also popped up in the last few days in exchanges with Kevin Cook, noted pulp and book collector. “At this point in time Parker is still an industry,” Kevin observed, … Continue reading
Hammett: Angel Eyes
Tenderloin Terry Zobeck seeks out the Shadow of Hammett everywhere, and he tells me: I think we’ve discussed Ace Atkins’ continuation of the Spenser novels before. I usually don’t like such things, but he capture’s Parker’s style uncannily well. The new … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Max Z
While I don’t proselytize for it every day, I am a big fan of the Max Brooks novel World War Z — not so much for the movie they named after it. Brian Leno nabbed me a couple of Brooks … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Zombiemeister
Autograph Hound Super-Sunday once again, and do we have anything super to offer? I think so. Yesterday we pinned the label of neat-nik on Kevin Cook, preferring as he does nice clean signatures you can actually read. I think Autograph … Continue reading
Rediscovered: James Lee Burke’s Even Hand
Autograph Hound Saturday once again, and I get the sense that the riot of horrible, illegible John Hancocks we’ve been running recently has begun to bother Kevin Cook, noted book and pulp and autograph collector. The guy likes order, not … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Lighting Up with Lester Dent
You know Brian Leno. The guy’s got a competitive edge. He’s already duked it out mano a mano with Kevin Cook a few times with samples from their autograph collections, notably the Cornell Woolrich face-off back in August. When Kevin … Continue reading
