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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
Tour: Two Sundays in November
One Sunday tour left in October, then two more in November to wrap up the year. . . . The pic above came from Mario Ruiz, and he dates it to 2014, when he rolled down from Portland to walk the … Continue reading
Tour: Mentioned in the NYT Again
Or so I’m told. After the tour yesterday I dropped in on the Second Sunday gathering of local f&sf fans — the fanzine fans of yesteryear — since this round it was in the Elks Lodge bar near where the walk ends … Continue reading
Tour: Some (Semi-Complicated) October Walks
Shot above: standing on the n.e. corner of Geary and Mason for a tour by appointment with Sisters in Crime, Saturday August 5, 2017. Looking west out Geary, the old Geary Theatre looming above the first red car. . . … Continue reading
Posted in Tour
Tagged "Whosis Kid", Blanco's, Geary Street, Geary Theatre, Larkin Street, Mason Street, Olive Street, Sisters-in-Crime, Tenderloin
Frisco Beat: Alas, Poor Blanco’s! I Knew It, Horatio. . .
You know how it is, you go in for triple bypass surgery and someone figures you’re gone for sure, The Defender of the Faith is down by the wayside, and it’s now safe to paint over the tragically faded lettering … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Tour
Tagged Blanco's, Great American Music Hall, Larkin Street, Olive Street
Sinister Cinema: Heresy
In February, when I was generally distracted, the publisher Vince Emery passed along a link to a Hollywood Reporter article on the possible or upcoming movie of the Charles Willeford novel The Burnt Orange Heresy. Who knows if it’ll make it … Continue reading
Posted in Film, News, Tour, Willeford
Tagged Burnt Orange Heresy, Christopher Walken, Hollywood Reporter, John Leguizamo, Manchette, Vince Emery
Tour: No Walks in May, and June Looks Shot, Too
You know how it goes, you go in for a checkup, one thing leads to another, and you find yourself under the knife for triple bypass surgery. Ouch. Anyway, I survived, but it looks as if it’ll take two, maybe … Continue reading
Posted in Tour
Tour: 3 Sundays in October
For anyone who wants to just show up by noon near the revolving “L” sculpture with 20 bucks and four hours to kill, take your pick from Sunday October 15 or Sunday October 22 or Sunday October 29 — the tourist … Continue reading
Rediscovered: FLIVVER GAME (!!!)
Operatives of the Mean Streets scour the country, looking for clews. I know it. I trust you know it. Agent Paul Herman just sent in a report after he “went to a collectible ephemera show in Hartford last weekend.” Naturally, … Continue reading
Hammett: Popping into Stookey’s
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
Posted in Dash, Frisco, News, Tour
Tagged Burritt alley, Bush and Taylor Streets, Corpse Reviver, Faverman's drugstore, Stookey's Club Moderne
Tour: 3 Sundays in September
People have been asking if I was ever going to offer some just-show-up walks again. I admit, it’s a fair question, this year being my Fortieth Anniversary and all. John Q. Public could reasonably expect some mean streets leadership to … Continue reading
