HammettWatch, in all its glory

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the publication of THE MALTESE FALCON. Why it should have been on Valentine’s Day could be (and probably is) the subject of many a research paper, but let’s leave that alone and turn to the tributes.

January Magazine, under the loving care of J. Kingston Pierce, has assembled a remarkable series of essays and recollections. There’s Richard Layman, a noted biographer of Hammett, who writes about why this author and his work fascinated him so much and continues to do so. Contributing editor Kevin Burton Smith offers up a review of VINTAGE HAMMETT, a slim volume of previously uncollected works. It’s a hodgepodge, but as Smith puts it, “this is Hammett, man…the man could write.” And last but not least, a feast of some of the best authors in the business — including George Pelecanos, S.J. Rozan, Ken Bruen, Peter Robinson, Loren Estleman, Ed Gorman and Max Allan Collins — explain what Hammett’s work means to them and how huge an influence he was on them, and the genre as a whole.

Elsewhere, tributes are offered up by Megan Sexton at South Carolina’s The State, Scott Eyman at the Palm Beach Post, crime writer John Ridley in commentary over at NPR, Rosemary Herbert at the Boston Herald, and Otto Penzler, penning a lengthy piece for the New York Sun.