Dashiell Hammett

"Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people who do it for a reason, not just to provide a corpse; and with means at hand, not with handwrought dueling pistols, curare, and tropical fish."

Later years

In 1931, Hammett embarked on a thirty-year affair with playwright Lillian Hellman. He wrote his final novel in 1934, and devoted much of the rest of his life to left-wing activism. He was a strong anti-fascist throughout the 1930s and in 1937 he joined the American Communist Party.

Related Topics:
1931 - Lillian Hellman - 1934 - Left-wing - Activism - Anti-fascist - 1937 - American Communist Party

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In 1942, Hammett enlisted in the United States Army after the United States entered World War II. Though he was a disabled veteran of WWI, and a victim of tuberculosis, he pulled strings in order to be admitted into service. He spent most of WWII as a sergeant in the Army in the Aleutian Islands, where he edited an Army newspaper.

Related Topics:
1942 - United States Army - World War II - Sergeant - Aleutian Islands

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After World War II, Hammett joined the New York Civil Rights Congress, a leftist organization that was considered by some to be a communist front. When four communists related to the organization were arrested, Hammett raised money for their bail bond. When the accused fled, he was subpoenaed about their whereabouts, and in 1951, he was imprisoned for 6 months for contempt of court after refusing to provide information to the court.

Related Topics:
New York Civil Rights Congress - Contempt of court

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During the 1950s he was investigated by the Congress of the United States (see McCarthyism). Although he testified to his own activities and was blacklisted, he refused to divulge the identities of American communists.

Related Topics:
Congress of the United States - McCarthyism - Blacklisted

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Hammett died in Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. As a veteran of two World Wars, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Related Topics:
New York City - Arlington National Cemetery

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