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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: Tenderloin
Frisco Beat: A Slice of Life 1979-90
Our man on the street, Nathan Ward — keeping his eye on the New York scene — sends along his latest find: “I liked this evocation of San Francisco from 79-90 by the novelist Rachel Kushner in the current New … Continue reading
Two-Gun Bob: Conan — in Jeopardy(!)
After getting back to the lair after rolling up to catch Peter Field’s talk in the Tenderloin Museum last night (also grabbed a copy of his new history of The TL — you’ll like it, lots of pictures), I opened … Continue reading
Suicide Club: Peter Field Drops a Book
A fellow adventurer from the glory days of The San Francisco Suicide Club, 1977-82, has dug around, done a bunch of research, and written a book. I went on one of the first walking tours of the Tenderloin that Peter Field … Continue reading
Rediscovered: A Tough Guy Amidst Books
Woke up today to find Nathan Ward had dropped a link on me to his latest tidbit on CrimeReads, of which he says: “Has nothing to do with Hammett or the (newly discovered by the NY Times) Tenderloin. Thought you … Continue reading
Posted in News
Tagged Attica, Crimereads, Izzy Zimmerman, Nathan Ward, New York Times, Sing Sing, Tenderloin
Tour: Some (Semi-Complicated) October Walks
Shot above: standing on the n.e. corner of Geary and Mason for a tour by appointment with Sisters in Crime, Saturday August 5, 2017. Looking west out Geary, the old Geary Theatre looming above the first red car. . . … Continue reading
Posted in Tour
Tagged "Whosis Kid", Blanco's, Geary Street, Geary Theatre, Larkin Street, Mason Street, Olive Street, Sisters-in-Crime, Tenderloin
Frisco Beat: Back to the TL Museum for The Penalty
At top and bottom, a couple of shots from my July 13 appearance in the Tenderloin Museum, talking up The Thin Man and with some snippets of the 1931 Falcon — high point being when we spotted the heart of the … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Frisco, News
Tagged CitySleuth, Lon Chaney Sr., Tenderloin, Tenderloin Museum, The Big Knockover, The Penalty
Sinister Cinema: Back to the Tenderloin Museum
I’ll be hitting the Tenderloin Museum once again on July 13 — hey, just three days before their second anniversary on July 16 — to talk Dashiell Hammett for awhile. Hammett, pretty much the most famous writer to have made … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Frisco, News
Tagged Dwight Frye, Myrna Loy, Skippy, Tenderloin, Tenderloin Museum, The Midget Bandit, Thin Man, William Powell
Frisco Beat: Naming The Names at Milkbean
Mark Murphy, one of my operatives always on the ground, constantly reporting on the Tenderloin Beat, tells me that Milkbean — a sandwich and coffee joint which opened recently in the space in the Sam Spade Building once occupied by … Continue reading
Frisco Beat: On the Mean Streets with Fritz and Sam
Don’t think that during my deep hibernation of Xmas/The Onset of Winter I did nothing at all, even if doing nothing was the prevailing theme. I remembered that I never polished off the Sherlock Holmes stories decades ago, stopping after the … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Tour
Tagged Fritz Leiber, Fritz Leiber Tour, Halloween, Jim Nelson, M.R. James, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Tenderloin, Xmas
Frisco Beat: Tenderloin Museum, Year One
Coming up fast on July 16, The Tenderloin Museum celebrates its first anniversary — details on the website or the Facebook page. From 10a.m. to 9p.m., free admission, with workshops, talks, jazz, a drag show — the whole historical and … Continue reading
