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: John’s Grill
Sinister Cinema: Publicity Shots
How about we kick off a new month with some publicity shots from the Archives of Stephen Talbot? Steve popped these to me recently. Pic at top, left to right, Lyle Talbot, Nancy Hult, Don Herron (me!) and Steve from 1982, … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Frisco, Tour
Tagged Bancroft Library, Fritz Leiber, John's Grill, Lyle Talbot, Mae West, Nancy Hult, Sid Ganis, Stephen Talbot
Frisco Beat: And an “Adios” to the Powell Hotel. . . .
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
Posted in Frisco, News, Willeford
Tagged Blackjack Jerome, Fondas Ladis, Jacob Blake, John's Grill, Powell Hotel
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
Rediscovered: A “Lost” Spade-Marlowe Connection
Got a note a couple of days ago asking me if I’d seen the bit “Finding Marlowe” in the LA Times. Guy named Erik Cummins spun it my way, with the preface: I met you some years ago (about 10-12 … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit, News, Tour
Tagged Erik Cummins, John's Grill, LA Times, Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler, Red Harvest, Sam Spade, The Midget Bandit, Warren Harris
