Dashiell Hammett, L.A. Writer?
No matter how brightly the sun shone on Barnsdall Park and how peacefully park-goers pursued tai chi and kickboxing lessons on the grass, inside the darkened Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, an all-star panel of Dashiell Hammett experts talked about the man whose Maltese Falcon defined noir and who belongs, as moderator and National Endowment for the Arts Director of Literature David Kipen put it, on the “Mount Rushmore of detective writing.” And, at least according to these sharp-tongued but convivial panelists, brought together by Zócalo, the Los Angeles Department of Cultural …
