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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: Tour
Noir: More Murderous Monday
On Saturday July 23 I pulled on the worn gumshoes and led a group by appointment up and down the mean streets, and a fun parade it turned out to be. A guy named Alec Binnie arranged the deal. He … Continue reading
Tour: Inquiries Welcome
For the Dashiell Hammett Tour I have drifted over largely into doing Tours by Appointment. Kind of inevitable. Easier. Better money. After 45 years, bound to happen. And I still meet people who ask me how many times a day … Continue reading
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
Frisco Beat: Up in Spade’s Room
Thomas Burchfield just put up an article on the late great Bill Arney — especially useful because it first appeared in 2009 and contains lots of info on Bill’s movements in San Francisco. I’d almost forgotten the breakup with a … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, News, Tour
Tagged 891 Post, Bill Arney, Hammett Cult in San Francisco, House of Fans, Maltese Falcon Society, Thomas Burchfield
Mort: Bill Arney
It’s a sad day in Sam Spade’s San Francisco. Got a note from Mike Humbert last night to inform me that Bill Arney died yesterday morning, September 28 2021. As of now, I don’t know what got him. I’m kicking … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, News, Tour
Tagged 891 Post, Bill Arney, Hammett Cult in San Francisco, Mike Humbert
Tour: By Appointment with Drake
The walk I did years ago for science fiction and fantasy writer David Drake, in town to do a signing in Borderlands Books, came up the other day in a blog from Deuce Richardson. Deuce liked the anecdote Drake told … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Sidney-Fryer to Sabato
The month kicked off with talk about Donald Sidney-Fryer’s book Songs and Sonnets Atlantean and we may as well whip out a Worm Ouroborus move by going out with yet more DSF and S&SA to sign off June. Martin Stever … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, Tour
Tagged Autographs, Book Collecting, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Fritz Leiber, L. Sprague de Camp, Martin Stever, Sabato Fiorello, Songs & Sonnets Atlantean
Hammett: The Jeopardy! Roundup
For fun I’ve been keeping track of the times Hammett or something to do with Hammett (i.e. Sam Spade or Lillian Hellman) popped up on the game show Jeopardy! Kind of a marker of the cultural zeitgeist. Now that the … Continue reading
Frisco Beat: A Slice of Life 1979-90
Our man on the street, Nathan Ward — keeping his eye on the New York scene — sends along his latest find: “I liked this evocation of San Francisco from 79-90 by the novelist Rachel Kushner in the current New … Continue reading
Tour: Journal of the Plague Year
2020, without question, a great year for binge-watching — but taking a moment to think about it, I don’t believe I did any more bingeing than usual (which is to say I am a binge-master, the only trick is tracking … Continue reading
