Search donherron.com
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: Raymond Chandler
891 Post: Jeopardy!
Catching up on this past week’s file of Jeopardy! on the DVR, a surprise moment from the Double Jeopardy Round aired Thursday December 19: Category: Literary Landmarks. The $1200 slot. Statement: In the late 1920s Dashiell Hammett lived in an … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, News
Tagged 891 Post, Jeopardy!, literary homes, literary landmarks, Raymond Chandler
Rediscovered: The eMask, Live Today!
The brave new world of ebooks! — what does it offer you today? If you’re a fan of pulp era crime fiction, especially the gritty and hard-boiled sort that shot and slugged its way through the pages of Black Mask — home base for Dashiell … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit, News, REH
Tagged Black Mask, Eugene Cunningham, Evan Lewis, PulpFest, Raymond Chandler, Robert E. Howard Library, The Shadow, Theodore A. Tinsley, Triggernometry, Walter Gibson
Hammett: And Machen
Around Xmas, as I was in the midst of that big reread of H. P. Lovecraft I alluded to a couple of times, I got the urge to do yet another reread on the Dyson stories by Arthur Machen — for … Continue reading
Hammett: The Fat Man
I took a little break from reading Haefele’s upcoming book on Derleth, Lovecraft, and the Cthulhu Mythos to tie in with Bill Arney and shoot a couple of segments of Cheese Theatre for the upcoming third season. Which meant I finally … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, News
Tagged Bill Arney, Cheese Theatre, circus clowns, Emmett Kelly, J. Scott Smart, Jayne Meadows, Parley Baer, Raymond Chandler, Roadhouse Nights, Rock Hudson, The Fat Man, William Castle
Hammett: “The Advertisement IS Literature”
Even as he packs his valise for PulpFest 2012, our frequent Guest Blogger Terry Zobeck finds a moment to comment on the local action: “Nice post on Vidal. He’s one of my favorite writers. He got a little odd there … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit, News
Tagged "Ber-Bulu", "Mike Alec or Rufus", "The Advertisement IS Literature", Anatole France, Aristotle, Benedetto Croce, Black Mask, Goethe, Gore Vidal, H. L. Mencken, Jim Tully, Joel Elias Spingarn, John Galsworthy, Joseph Conrad, Mark Dawidziak, Ohio State University, Phil Cody, PulpFest, Raymond Chandler, Ring Lardner, Terry Zobeck, The Editor, Thomas Carlyle, Western Advertising
Rediscovered: The Lost World of Pulp!
In less than a week I’m off to PulpFest 2012 in Columbus, Ohio, with side trips to look up Jim Tully sites in St. Marys plus check out one of the world’s best privately held collections of M. P. Shiel — and … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit, News, REH
Tagged Brian Leno, Clark Ashton Smith, Conan, Dime Detective, Donald Wandrei, E. Hoffmann Price, Ernest Hemingway, Esquire, F. Scott Fitzgerald, I. V. Frost, Jim Tully, John D. Squires, John Lawrence, M. P. Shiel, Marquis of Broadway, Mike Nevins, Pawang Ali, PulpFest, pure texts, Raymond Chandler, Terry Zobeck, The Shadow, Weird Tales
Hammett: And Lovecraft
Whoa. Friday the 13th. Time to get a little eldritch and unspeakable for Biography Month. . . . And unspeaking of H. P. Lovecraft, I admit I’m just as interested in the Could Have Beens of a writer’s life as the Plain … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit, REH
Tagged "Conan the Argonaut", Black Mask, Cap Shaw, Farnsworth Wright, Including Murder, Lovecraft, Pulps, Raymond Chandler, The Cimmerian, Weird Tales
Rediscovered: More Life of Floyd
Got a note from Matthew Asprey that he’s got another publishing deal gone down — the magazine Contrappasso. Haven’t seen it yet, but a star feature for Up and Down These Mean Streets types would be a new autobiographical piece … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Contrappasso, Eddie Little, Edward Bunker, Floyd Salas, Jack Kerouac, James Crumley, Jim Tully, Matthew Asprey, Raymond Chandler, William S. Burroughs
Hammett: Thoughts on “House Burglary”
Wrapped in its art deco cover, the lost interview with Hammett from 1929 that Terry Zobeck located — “House Burglary Poor Trade” — is the author at a peak. Still writing for Black Mask. Not yet Hollywood. Charming, and willing to answer … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit, Tour
Tagged "Death and Company", "House Burglary Poor Trade", "The SImple Art of Murder", "The Thin Man", Alfred Packer, Black Mask, Brooklyn Eagle, Eve Sanderson, Hammett Tour Book, Helen Herbert Foster, Jerome Weidman, Jo Hammett, John Jacobs, Raymond Chandler, Red Harvest, Richard Layman, Terry Zobeck, The Bookman, The Maltese Falcon Society
Hollywood Beat: Mrs. Parker and the Literary Circle
The LAVA Literary Salon that meets in Musso & Frank has a new meeting scheduled on Dorothy Parker and F. Scott Fitzgerald — sold out already! I missed their first meeting, on John Fante, but was in M&F only a couple … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Lit, News
Tagged Dorothy Parker, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jim Tully, John Fante, LAVA Salon, Musso & Frank, PulpFest, Raymond Chandler