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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: Jack Dempsey
Rediscovered: Like Brian Leno Needed Another John Hancock from Jack Dempsey
Our maniacal Autograph Hound pal Brian Leno got a surprise for Xmas — an item of Jack Dempsey ephemera. Let Brian explain it: “A friend of mine was at a library book sale in North Carolina and found a promotional … Continue reading
Remembered: 100 Years Ago Today
Yeah, you see the autographed pic of Dempsey, and your mind spins — you’re thinking it’s Autograph Hound Saturday! But it’s Thursday July 4th — and American Independence happened more than a hundred years ago, right? (That’s what I heard, anyway.) … Continue reading
Posted in Boxing, News, REH
Tagged Autographs, Jack Dempsey, Jack London, Jess Willard, Jim Tully, Lovecraft
Two-Gun Bob: Brian Leno, Reporting Ringside
Whoa. Courtesy the production wizards over at The Cimmerian Press, yesterday Brian Leno popped out his second TriplePunchPack — Ringside with Robert E. Howard. Just an appetizer against the full feedbag of the book he’s working on, an in-depth look … Continue reading
Posted in Boxing, News, REH
Tagged Brian Leno, Ernest Hemingway, Jack Dempsey, Jim Tully, Kid Dula, The Cimmerian Press
NONPAREIL: The Robert E. Howard WORD OF THE YEAR
For some of us, Robert E. Howard is nonpareil — which my India paper copy of Webster’s Third says is “Something of unequaled excellence; a nonesuch; a paragon,” and, while you might not think of it, is a word “often … Continue reading
Two-Gun Bob: He Was a Contenda
Eighty-one years ago today the Texas pulpster Robert E. Howard killed himself at the age of thirty. To commemorate the date, let’s bring Brian Leno back into the ring to talk about one of Howard’s predictions on boxing, one of … Continue reading
Posted in Boxing, REH
Tagged Ace Hudkins, Ben Jeby, Brian Leno, Brownwood Bulletin, Chicago Coliseum, Dave Shade, Haakon Hanson, Jack Dempsey, Kid Dula, Maxie Rosenbloom, Mickey Walker, Rene De Vos, The Ring
Sinister Cinema: The Black Bird Flaps Back to the Old Hood
Tuesday October 27 The Maltese Falcon returns to the hood where it was imagined, plotted and pounded into life on the typewriter keys by none other than longtime Tenderloin resident Dashiell Hammett — the 1941 film version with Bogie, of … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Frisco, News
Tagged Bogie, Cadillac Hotel, Jack Dempsey, Tenderloin, Tenderloin Museum
Rediscovered: “Cowboy” Dula, a Gold Watch from Dempsey, and Frazier
Our occasional Guest Blogger Brian Leno jumps swinging into Bio Month with a post about boxing. I’ve long thought that Leno would be the guy to do a history — in effect, a biography — of the Old School boxers, since … Continue reading
Posted in Boxing, News, REH
Tagged Autographs, Brian Leno, Brownwood Texas, Damon Sasser, Frazetta, Haakon Hansen, Hans Jacob Nielsen, Jack Dempsey, Joe Frazier, Kid Dula, Muhammad Ali
Rediscovered: The Underworld Years
Let’s ease gently from Biography Month into LitCrit Month. . . . In the intro to their bio on Jim Tully, Bauer and Dawidziak have this statement: Frank Scully, who knew Tully better than anyone, had a warning for any … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, Willeford
Tagged Dr. Sam: Johnson, Frank Scully, H. L. Mencken, Jack Dempsey, Jack London, James Boswell, Jim Tully, Mark Dawidziak, Muhammad Ali, Paul J. Bauer, The American Mercury, Waldo Frank
Rediscovered: Tad Dorgan
The other day I mentioned how I casually had looked Tad Dorgan up online and noticed his connection with boxing — “a hard-boiled cartoonist, no less,” wrote I. Hey, little did I know. A day or two later Terry Zobeck … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, Lit, REH
Tagged Battling Nelson, Boxing, Brian Leno, Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, Jim Corbett, Jim Jeffries, Joe Frazier, Nat Fleischer, Ring Lardner, Tad Dorgan, Terry Zobeck, The Ring