Category Archives: Lit

Rediscovered: Zobeck Zips Up the Watts Auction

Posted on October 2, 2023 by Don

Terry Zobeck kept an eye on the huge auction of books from the library of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. He even tossed in a bid himself, getting in on the action. With prices paid and the gavel now quiet, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Lit, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , |

Rediscovered: Cowboy America

Posted on September 17, 2023 by Don

“Wild cattle that refused to move with the herd and kept returning to the brush the cowboys might make docile by sewing their eyelids shut; after about two weeks, when the thread had decayed enough for the eyes to reopen, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Film, Lit | Tagged , , |

Rediscovered: Biography Month Redux

Posted on September 8, 2023 by Don

Today is the official publication date for Nathan Ward’s newest bio, Son of the Old West — The Odyssey of Charlie Siringo: Cowboy, Detective, Writer of the Wild Frontier. Something to kick off another Biography Month here on These Mean … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Lit, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , |

Mort: John Jakes

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Don

It’s time to mention his name in Atlantis. Brian Leno popped the news to me that John Jakes died Saturday March 18, age 90. Jakes was one of the most commercially successful writers to emerge from the paperback originals and … Continue reading →

Posted in Lit, News, REH | Tagged , , , |

Rediscovered: An Item of Modern Arkham House Ephemera

Posted on February 16, 2023 by Don

John D. Haefele and I actually have been slaving away on a book on Arkham House ephemera from the Classic Years — 1937-1972. We’ve got guys eyeballing some of the largest private collections (as I post, one stalwart has the … Continue reading →

Posted in Lit, News | Tagged , , , , |

Rediscovered: Every Other Day Birthdays

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Don

The noted book and pulp collector Kevin Cook spotted a fantasy writer trend and reported in: January 20            A. Merritt January 22            Robert E. Howard January 24            C.L. Moore January 26            Philip Jose Farmer

Posted in Lit, News | Tagged |

Hammett: Jeopardy! Hits Nick and Nora (And Glass Onion Cameos the Black Bird)

Posted on December 26, 2022 by Don

Jeopardy! hasn’t hit the Hammett clew pile lately as much as it did back in the Golden Age of Alex Trebek. But every now and then they just can’t avoid it. . . . For the show broadcast December 23rd, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Film, Lit, News | Tagged , , , , , |

891 Post: Minwax Gel Cherrywood

Posted on December 25, 2022 by Don

As a little Xmas present — and to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the death of Bill Arney on September 28, 2021 — let’s take a look into the Sam Spade apartment in 891 Post Street. The date was September … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit | Tagged , , , , , |

891 Post: Enter the Apartment

Posted on December 24, 2022 by Don

On September 20, 2009 I gumshoed up to the gate of 891 Post. Corner of Hyde. In the night, the plaque we’d put on the building early in 2005 to commemorate the residence of Dashiell Hammett gave off a dim … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit | Tagged , , , |

Frisco Beat: A Pop in the Ha-Ra

Posted on December 24, 2022 by Don

Last month I mentioned that the staining on the woodwork in the Sam Spade apartment in 891 Post is just wrong — it looks very, very nice, but it’s wrong. Although I was pretty casual about it, I did think … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit | Tagged , , , |