I was in Arlington Cemetery today and I visited the grave of Dashiell Hammett, the father of the hardboiled style in The Maltese Falcon and other works. Despite being blacklisted, branded as a Red, and sent to prison for refusing to rat anyone out in the ’50’s, Hammett still rated burial in the nation’s foremost military cemetery due to his loyal service during WWI and II.

I hope that people will remember Hammett and his amazing writing long after the tiny minded, frightened, reactionary swine who persecuted him are forgotten. He laid one of the main foundations for noir, still a pervasive element in modern culture.