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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.”
Tag Archives: Burritt alley
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
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: Sundays May 7 and 28
Keeping the roll going, anyone who wants to show up palming a $20 with four hours to kill can join in on Hammett Tours set for Sunday May 7 and Sunday May 28. No appointment needed, just show up by … Continue reading
Tour: Every Sunday in October
Partly because some people asked for some of the dates, partly to give the packed audience for the Hammett talk in the Mechanics’ Library a chance to slip on the old gumshoes and ease on down the mean streets, you’ll … Continue reading
Hammett: Out of the Past
Do you remember my description in the recent PulpFest report about how a dealer showed me a copy of my 1982 tour book in gray wraps which he had priced at $15? I was going to put it back for … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Tour
Tagged Autographs, Bill Arney, Burritt alley, Hammett Cult in San Francisco, John D. Haefele, Morgan Holmes, PulpFest, Red Harvest, Tom Krabacher
Frisco Beat: “Burrito” Alley
A couple of Wednesdays back I noticed that someone had changed the lettering on Burritt alley to make “Burritt” into “Burrito” — but last night saw that the name had been returned to Burritt and all is well with the … Continue reading
Hammett: KALW and the Mystery of the Black Bird
The Maltese Falcon presides over San Francisco — the novel, the film, a thousand and one statues made of plaster, the two or three (or more?) figurines wrought out of lead with a golden bronze patina — the lead ones from … Continue reading
Tour: Sunday February 22
We’ve got a Hammett tour coming up fast, where anyone can show up palming twenty bucks and walk the walk — this Sunday, January 18. Next one in line rolls up on Sunday February 22. Meets at noon, near the “L” … Continue reading
Tour: Sundays, August 10 and August 31
On Sunday August 10 and again on Sunday August 31, anyone who wants to show up with $20 and four hours to invest can hike the Hammett trails that thread through the jungle of mean streets that is San Francisco. … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: In Hilly Alabam
When last seen here on Up and Down These Mean Streets, Hollywood tour guide Charlie Morfin supplied us with a shot of the Dashiell Hammett Street sign when they got the spelling wrong — white hot news back in 2011, kicked … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Frisco, News
Tagged Alabama Hills, Budd Boetticher, Burritt alley, Burritt alley plaque, Charlie Morfin, Elwood alley, Henry Silva, Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, The Tall T
