The Maltese FalconDashiell Hammett

By Nathan Hayes

Dashiell Hammett

• May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961• screenplay writer• political activist– Communist

• Regarded as one of the finest mystery writers of all time.

Early life

• baptized a Catholic.• grew up in Philadelphia and Baltimore.• began writing at 13.• Worked at the Pinkerton National Detective

Agency.– Career lasted from 1915 to February 1922

• In 1918 he served in the Motor Ambulance Corps.

More of his life

• Got Spanish flue and contracted tuberculosis.• Most of his time in army was as a patient.• Met his future wife, Josephine Dolan, while

recovering.

Style

• Known for his authenticity and realism.• Experience as a private eye.• "All my characters were based on people I've

known personally, or known about.“• Went into drinking, then advertising, and then

writing, then worked as a detective, then wrote.

A bitt strange

• In 1942, post Pearl Harbor, Hammett sought enlistment in the US army.

• He was a disabled vet. Of the first war, so he had to pull some favors.

• Served as a sergeant in the Aleutian Islands where he edited the army newspaper.

Influence today

• Bill Watterson was obviously inspired by Hammett’s characters, after all, this strip seems very similar to Hammett’s writing.

Fin

• The New York Times once said of Hammett; "the dean of the... 'hard-boiled' school of detective fiction."