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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: Jack London
Sinister Cinema: Greeks in Hollywood
Paging through Greeks in Hollywood: In the Silent Movie Era, I was stopped in my tracks when I saw the clipping of Jack Pierce, legendary makeup artist, working on Boris Karloff. If you dig the original Universal Monsters, Pierce pretty … Continue reading
Frisco Beat: Wolf and Greek Go All Primeval
Our pal Morgan “The Morgman” Holmes has a dictum — either the product of his own profound deliberations or picked up over shots of whiskey in a seedy bar held together with vines and rattan somewhere on the outskirts of … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit, News, REH
Tagged Before Adam, Clark Ashton Smith, George Sterling, Jack London, literary suicides, Lovecraft, Morgan Holmes, Popular Magazine, Vince Emery
Rediscovered: Jack’s Pack
Famous Autograph Hound Brian Leno returns with a few items for yet another Autograph Hound Saturday. And of course he’s got a theme going: I’ve been on a bit of a Jack London kick lately. First up is a signed … Continue reading
Posted in Lit
Tagged Autographs, Brian Leno, Ed Morrell, Jack London, Martin Johnson, Stanley Waterloo, The Snark
Remembered: 100 Years Ago Today
Yeah, you see the autographed pic of Dempsey, and your mind spins — you’re thinking it’s Autograph Hound Saturday! But it’s Thursday July 4th — and American Independence happened more than a hundred years ago, right? (That’s what I heard, anyway.) … Continue reading
Posted in Boxing, News, REH
Tagged Autographs, Jack Dempsey, Jack London, Jess Willard, Jim Tully, Lovecraft
Rediscovered: Tully and Hammett and Chaney (Oh My!)
Finally got back from PulpFest, finished shaking the flakes of rotting wood-pulp dust off my traveling gear, and guess it’s time to jump back into the blogosphere. To reboot the action, how about some comments from Mark Dawidziak, the Jim Tully biographer, … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Lit, Willeford
Tagged Charmian London, Eugene O'Neill, George Jean Nathan, H. L. Mencken, Jack London, Jim Tully, Lon Chaney Sr., Mark Dawidziak, PulpFest, The American Mercury, Vanity Fair
Rediscovered: The Underworld Years
Let’s ease gently from Biography Month into LitCrit Month. . . . In the intro to their bio on Jim Tully, Bauer and Dawidziak have this statement: Frank Scully, who knew Tully better than anyone, had a warning for any … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, Willeford
Tagged Dr. Sam: Johnson, Frank Scully, H. L. Mencken, Jack Dempsey, Jack London, James Boswell, Jim Tully, Mark Dawidziak, Muhammad Ali, Paul J. Bauer, The American Mercury, Waldo Frank
Hammett: The Big 88
My spies out there in the world, always keeping an eye on the news, have alerted me to the latest honor for the author who makes The Dashiell Hammett Tour the rollicking fun ride that it is: Hammett’s Red Harvest has … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit, News, SFSC
Tagged "Zigzags of Treachery", Allen Ginsberg, Becky London, Ben Franklin, Brian Leno, City Lights, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Jack London, Jan Kerouac, Jo Hammett, John Carter, Library of Congress, literary graves, Randy Shilts, Ray Bradbury, Red Harvest, Zane Grey
Hammett: And “Martha Ivers”
Early this year I gave a notice for Matthew Asprey’s collection of Jack London stories set in San Francisco — and now I hear that he’s jumped fully into the academic world as Dr. Matthew Asprey Gear, Department of Media, … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Frisco
Tagged "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers", Jack London, Matthew Asprey, Red Harvest
Frisco Beat: Native Son
Editor Matthew Asprey got a copy to me of his collection of Jack London’s best tales set in and around San Francisco, including the complete Tales of the Fish Patrol — and “South of the Slot,” the London yarn selected … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, Lit, Tour
Tagged 1906 Quake and Fire, Jack London, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Peter Maravelis, San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics
