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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: Richard Layman
Hammett: Hollywood Goes Sports Mad
Terry Zobeck, back on the Mean Streets — and today he tells us about “a tongue-in-cheek article that Hammett published in 1934” with a link to its appearance in the November 8, 1934 issue of the Hartford Courant. “I verified … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film
Tagged Bill Mullins, Elise De Viane, Hartford Courant, Mollie Merrick, newspaper action, Richard Layman, Terry Zobeck
Hammett: His Garbo Speaks! Moment
Holy cow — suddenly it is Audio Hound Super-Sunday! And longtime Mean Streets maven Terry Zobeck just heard some sound he’s been waiting to hear for many, many long years. Here’s Terry with the scoop: In 2001, at the Washington, … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, News
Tagged "Two Sharp Knives", Bill Mullins, Dick Tracy, Jo Hammett, Richard Layman, Studio One, Thomas Fasano
Hammett: “A Fast-Moving Gripping Mystery Yarn”
The pulp expert John Locke was just telling me he got his hands on a trove of Photoplay issues from the 1930s, and figured everyone would like to see how the trade mag blurbed the very first movie version of … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film
Tagged Bebe Daniels, Dwight Frye, John Locke, Photoplay, Ricardo Cortez, Richard Layman
Hammett: From Poisonville to Red Harvest, “Chapter One”
A couple of months ago I was prowling through the inventory of Mean Streets posts to salvage as yet unpublished material from the backlog. A few tentative ideas that got to skeletal mock-up stage I just deleted — weeding the … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit
Tagged Black Mask, Frederic Dannay, Jo Hammett, Paul Herman, PulpFest, Red Harvest, Richard Layman, Terry Zobeck, The Big Book of the Continental Op
Hammett: Unearthed — The Samuels’ Campaign
We haven’t seen a lot of Tenderloin Terry Zobeck recently, but you know he’s out there, ever sleuthing the Mean Streets. He’s been working on finalizing his biblio of Lawrence Block, but when he gets scent of a Hammett quest, … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, News
Tagged Albert S. Samuels, Lawrence Block, Library of Congress, Marc LaViolette, Richard Layman, Terry Zobeck, Western Advertising
Hammett: More Reviews from a “Careful Reading, Deep Thinking Advertising Man”
Terry Zobeck has raided the Library of Congress again, and found that they now have color copiers — but that copies of Western Advertising are a bit larger than their scanner bed, and that his scanner program just doesn’t do … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, News
Tagged Duncan Sisters, KGO, Library of Congress, Marc LaViolette, Nathan Ward, Richard Layman, Terry Zobeck, Western Advertising
Hammett: Terry Zobeck Reviews The Lost Detective
Since we’re hosting Biography Month because of the new Hammett bio by Nathan Ward, how about we kick the thing into gear with a full-fledged review by none other than Terry Zobeck, the most prolific Guest Blogger here on Up … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco
Tagged David Fechheimer, Frederic Dannay, Nathan Ward, Phil Geauque, Richard Layman, Steven Marcus, Terry Zobeck
Hammett: “The Nails in Mr. Cayterer”
Remember the fireworks going off boom! and bang! a couple of days ago? As I watched the explosions I was thinking, yeah, if they only knew that Terry Zobeck was about to finish off — complete, fini — his now … Continue reading
Hammett: Birthday 121
Shot above, Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett — who get stacks of their old mail officially donated to the University of South Carolina today, the 121st anniversary of Hammett’s birth. Terry “Mr. Pure Texts” Zobeck and I had a little … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, News, Tour
Tagged Humanities Research Center, Jo Hammett, Lillian Hellman, Random House, Richard Layman, University of South Carolina