Category Archives: Willeford

Rediscovered: Carroll John Who? H. Warner What?

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Don

On the tour in recent years (three or four years ago, five, not twenty years ago, not thirty-five) a woman mentioned that her uncle — or maybe he was her great-uncle — like Hammett also had written for the pulp Black Mask. … Continue reading →

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Rediscovered: Classic Crime Quips

Posted on August 21, 2016 by Don

Occasional Guest Blogger Michael S. Chong popped in news that Death is a Lovely Dame by Jeff Vorzimmer has hit the mean streets — classic lines from crime novels, classic covers. Michael notes that it contains some excerpts from Hammett … Continue reading →

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Hammett: A Really Old and Highly Inaccurate News Flash

Posted on August 7, 2016 by Don

Suddenly people are popping me links to a 2011 article from The Guardian about Hammett’s Lost Works Found in Texas — must have surfaced on Facebook or someplace. Yeah, yeah. I knew about it at the time and ignored it, … Continue reading →

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Rediscovered: Willeford’s Grandfather

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Don

And to keep the Willeford train rolling, Michael S. Chong recently popped me a note as he was waiting to go under the knife for some foot surgery — now there’s a serious Willeford fan for you! To keep himself … Continue reading →

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Rediscovered: Mean Streets Veteran Cracks The Daily Beast

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Don

Veterans Day. Lots of Vets on These Mean Streets. Hammett, two World Wars, interred in Arlington. The late great James Crumley. The great Kent Anderson. Plenty more. And of course Charles Willeford — also interred in Arlington — who gets … Continue reading →

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Frisco Beat: Lit World Has Its Fans

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Don

Shot above — sales table at the Mechanics’ Library talk — shot at bottom, foreground: Nathan Ward and Vince Emery somewhere in the process of getting an inscription put into The Lost Detective — background: me talking to a guy … Continue reading →

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Sinister Cinema: The Wild Life of Warren Oates

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Don

Every year or two I make the plunge into looking at refs to me on Google, though I have never managed to get to the end, if there is an end. Kind of fun to see various previously unknown citations … Continue reading →

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

Rediscovered: PulpFest 2015 — On the Whole, I’d Rather Not Be in Philadelphia

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Don

Got to the airport predawn on Thursday August 13, plenty of time to fly to Phoenix, catch the connecting flight to Columbus, Ohio, so I’d hit this year’s PulpFest by 4p.m., before they even cracked open the doors of the … Continue reading →

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Frisco Beat: And an “Adios” to the Powell Hotel. . . .

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Don

On May 19 I made my way to the bar in John’s Grill for a meeting with the Greek writer Fondas Ladis, in the burg doing research on a biography of Blackjack Jerome. As I hiked up the first block of … Continue reading →

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Sinister Cinema: When I Wasn’t Paying Any Attention Whatsoever, “Hoke” Bit the Dust

Posted on January 3, 2015 by Don

Surfing around the net a few days ago, I noticed a blurb for some new TV pilot that included Paul Giamatti in the cast. I wondered, Does this mean that the “Hoke” series for FX never got a pickup? Easy … Continue reading →

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