
Welcome to a hard-boiled and not without noir blog with news and reviews, occasional outbursts of maniacal Autograph Hound activity, plus archival records from the forty-five year run of The Dashiell Hammett Tour. -

The Dashiell Hammett Tour
1977-2022



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Arkham House Ephemera
The Classic Years 1937–1973-

Death Lit
Essays and Reviews Selected from Fifty Years of Writing 1974–2024-

Willeford
The Book-
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Tag Archives: Donald Sidney-Fryer
Two-Gun Bob: The de Camp Bio
Hey, some books may deserve to be forgotten. Inspired by reading my little biographical eBook on Robert E. Howard, Famous Someday — at this moment no.2 on the Kindle Horror Litcrit Bestseller list, for what that’s worth — (And my … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Floyd Salas Interviewed
Shot above, Floyd Salas, foreground, and Donald Sidney-Fryer from their first meeting. Matthew Asprey Gear just popped in word that a newly published interview with Floyd (conducted via email in 2014) is now available in Girl Gangs, Biker Boys, and … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Floyd Salas Meets Donald Sidney-Fryer
Left: Floyd Salas. Right: Donald Sidney-Fryer. (Background: gold statue by Floyd titled “The Boxer.”) I’ve had the idea that Floyd Salas and Donald Sidney-Fryer, “a pair of similar opposites” (to use a term Leo Grin came up with) really ought … Continue reading
Rediscovered: The Life of Donald Sidney-Fryer
Mere months after putting the wraps to Hobgoblin Apollo, Donald Sidney-Fryer has placed his autobio with Hippocampus Press and they’re offering it at half-off — I think that is the presale price. The sample cover is an early draft version, … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, Lit, News
Tagged August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Fritz Leiber, Hippocampus Press
Rediscovered: Biography Month Once More on These Mean Streets
What ho, it is Biography Month once again on Up and Down These Mean Streets — last time I did one was July 2012. The new bio of Jim Tully was a big excuse that time, and no doubt the … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit, News
Tagged 620 Eddy, 811 Geary, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Fritz Leiber, Geary Street, Hyde Street, Jim Tully, Leo Grin, M. P. Shiel, Miriam Allen DeFord, Morgan Holmes, Musso & Frank, Nathan Ward, PulpFest, Saigon Sandwich, Saroyan, Stan McNail, Stan Sargent, Tenderloin Museum, Terry Zobeck, William Vollmann
Rediscovered: Becoming Legends
Fritz Leiber, subject of the tour coming up this Sunday, was alive for much of the time I’ve been doing walks. Some of you may remember Hammett tours when we reached 811 Geary Street and did the blurb on Fritz and Our Lady … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, News, Tour, Willeford
Tagged 811 Geary, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Fritz Leiber, Harlan Ellison, John Gawsworth, Library of America, M. P. Shiel, Michael Dirda, Our Lady of Darkness, Washington Post
Rediscovered: Zane Grey
My recent trip down to Musso & Frank and the link yesterday to my guidebook The Literary World of San Francisco remind me that I’ve been meaning to blurb the Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel on Catalina Island for awhile now. I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Lit, REH, Willeford
Tagged Donald Sidney-Fryer, literary homes, Literary World of San Francisco, Musso & Frank, Zane Grey, Zane Grey Pueblo
Hollywood Beat: More Musso
Finally, I got a date set-up — Saturday August 20, 2011 — where I could hit Musso & Frank with Craig Graham, the guy who first told me about the place. Craig reserved a table with a view of the bar. … Continue reading
Posted in DMac, Film, Lit
Tagged Charlie Chaplin, Craig Graham, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Jim Thompson, Jimmy Durante, Leo Grin, Lillian Hellman, Musso & Frank, Robert Polito, Steve McQueen, Vagabond Books
Frisco Beat: The Return of Donald Sidney-Fryer
This coming Saturday, September 17, starting at 3p.m., you’ll find Donald Sidney-Fryer back in town for a signing in Borderlands. He did his stint as a San Francisco writer, starting sometime in the 1960s, tossing himself full tilt into the Hippie Scene … Continue reading
Two-Gun Bob: Poetry on Parade
As Donald Sidney-Fryer and I were trooping down Enchanted Rock outside Fredericksburg, Texas, a stop on our way to Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains in June 2009, I did not suspect that I was going to be drafted … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Lit, News, REH
Tagged Ben Friberg, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Fabrice Tortey, Glenn Lord, Howard Days, Indy Cavalier, Joe Lansdale, Larry D. Thomas, Professor Frank Coffman





