The Hello and welcome back to down these mean streets where today we're saluting one of the

Titans of Detective Fiction, Dachel Hammett. The man who gave us Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, and some of the definitive works of the hard-boiled crime genre was born 121 years ago this month.

Though he only wrote five novels, Hamlet's name always

tops the lists of great detective writers and his influence can still be felt in

works published today.

Known as Sam to family and friends, Hamlet dropped out of school at age 13, and he worked a series

of odd jobs until 1915 when he answered an ad for the Pinkerton National

Detective Agency.

The Pinkertons were the largest private law enforcement body in the United States, and their primary work in the early 20th century involved

busting unions.

That anti-union activity left the left-leaning ham at Cold, but he worked for the agency from 1915 until

1921. During that time, Hamlet worked on several high-profile cases, including the

murder case against silent film star Fatty Arbuckle.

He took a break from detective work to serve in World War I, but his military service was cut short when he contracted pneumonia and later tuberculosis.

His convalescence had a silver lining. He fell in love with Josephine Nolan, one of his nurses, and they married in 1921.

With a family to support, Hamet turned to writing in 1922.

After a few stories were published, he turned his focus to detective stories.

Hamid felt his real life experience as a Pinkerton could generate better tales than those he was reading in Pulp novels.

Between 1922 and 1927,

he had dozens of stories appear in magazines like Black Mask,

where readers devoured his tales that rang true with authenticity, all pulled from or inspired

by his Pinkerton work.

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