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
Arkham House Ephemera
The Classic Years 1937–1973
Death Lit
Essays and Reviews Selected from Fifty Years of Writing 1974–2024
Willeford
The Book
Tag Archives: Floyd Salas
Rediscovered: Shiel and Floyd and an Absurd Adventure of Dennis McMillan
Just noticed a quick email from 2022 where Brian Leno told me: Came across a letter where Lawrence of Arabia — in his T. E. Shaw alias — tells a bookseller he will take a copy of Shiel’s The Purple … Continue reading
Posted in DMac, Lit, News
Tagged Brian Leno, Death Lit Essays and Reviews 1974-2024, Eddie Little, Floyd Salas, John D. Squires, Lawrence of Arabia, M. P. Shiel, Steve Eng
Mort: Floyd Salas
Just got word that Floyd Salas died Sunday the 17th at the age of 90. Tattoo the Wicked Cross, baby. His companion of 38 years, Claire Ortalda, did the obit for Berkleyside — an excellent piece of writing, rounding up … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Padgett Powell Book Posts Willeford
Aha. Another guy has just discovered the late great Charles Willeford and covers the waterfront on the direct-to-your-inbox service Book Post. If interested, hop to the link fast — I have no idea what the archiving is like. My book … Continue reading
Rediscovered: More on Joe Memoli
Who would have thought a casual mention made when I was working up an article on the boxer-poet Floyd Salas would lead to more about Joe Memoli on These Mean Streets — and now, years later, to even more. Just … 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: Life and Death for the Boxers
Boxing is in the air I’m breathing this weekend. Need to drop in for a birthday party for my pal Floyd Salas, who is hitting 85 years on the Mean Streets — and some of the streets he went up and down were unquestionably … Continue reading
Posted in Boxing, REH
Tagged Billy Papke, Brian Leno, Floyd Salas, Hype Igoe, John Lardner, Lovecraft, Manuel A. Mora, Nat Fleischer, Nathan Ward, Pete "The Goat" Stone, Stanley Ketchel
Rediscovered: Joe Memoli, Made Man
Heading up for Xmas dinner with Floyd Salas reminded me that a little over a year ago I promised to correct something else on the website. Now I’ve just been back up to the Floyd lair last weekend for his … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Boxing, Floyd Salas, Frank Sinatra, Golden Gloves, Iris Odonata, Joe Memoli, Oakland California, Tower of Power
Hammett: And Prohibition
Per my normal Xmas rituals, I’ll be heading up to the dinner table in the hideout of Floyd “Tattoo the Wicked Cross” Salas, but here’s a tidbit to hold down a place under the tree: some casual speculation on Hammett … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco
Tagged 891 Post, Bill Arney, Blaine Act, Floyd Salas, Izzy Einstein, John's Grill, Mark Murphy, New Orleans, Prohibition, Red Harvest, The Maltese Arms, Vince Emery, Volstead Act
Posse McMillan: Contrappasso Noir
Dennis McMillan has been buzzing through the area lately — you’ll remember he got his car with Kansas plates stolen as an early Xmas present — and a few weeks later he got the ticket for his stolen car running … Continue reading
