The Thin Man, written by Dashiell Hammett, published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1934.

"The Thin Man" introduced a married couple—Nick and Nora Charles—as a freelancing detective team who charmed and entertained their fans with their sophisticated banter and life-style. The novel, featuring edgy characters, snappy dialogue, and a tricky plot was a best-seller and it was made into a 1934 hit MGM movie starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. The author of "The Thin Man" was Dashiell Hammett who also wrote "The Maltese Falcon" and a string of other bestsellers. Hammett was a veteran of World War I as well as World War II and also was employed early on in his career as a Pinkerton detective. Dashiell Hammett's career as a writer peaked with the "The Thin Man" but MGM knew they had a winner and followed up with spin-off productions of "After the Thin Man" (1936), "Another Thin Man" (1938), "Shadow of the Thin Man" (1941), "The Thin Man Goes Home" (1945) and "Song of Thin Man" (1947).

Dashiell Hammett met Josephine "Josie" Dolan, who was an Army nurse, when he was undergoing treatment for tuberculosis at Cushman Sanatorium in Tacoma in 1920. They married and were the parents of two daughters Mary and Jo. The marriage did not endure and Hammett obtained a Mexican divorce in 1937. His daughter, Jo Hammett, later wrote a book about her father titled, "Dashiell Hammett: A Daughter Remembers."

If Nick and Nora Charles were appealing fictional characters, Dashiell Hammett led a less harmonious life in the course of his 30-year relationship with Lillian Hellman whom he never married. Both Hammett and Hellman were fervent supporters of the Communist Party. After Hellman was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee on May 21, 1952, and acknowledged that she had joined the Communist Party in 1938, her career in Hollywood suffered significantly. Hammett's writing career was already on the blink due to a lifetime of alcohol abuse and his preoccupation with leftist politics. His ongoing support of the Communist Party came to a head when, as President of the New York chapter of the Civil Rights Congress, designated as a 'Communist Front,' he was called to testify about the handling of a fund used to provide bail for missing Smith Act defendants. On July 9, 1951, Hammett appeared in Federal District Court but refused to answer questions about the handling of the bail fund. As a result, Hammett was sentenced to six months in prison. He was released from prison on December 9, 1951, having received a four week reduction of his sentence for good behavior. His career, however, was over. Dashiell Hammett died on January 1, 1961 at the age of sixty-six. Cause of death was cancer. He died broke owing the IRS substantial amounts in back taxes. He was buried, by request, at Arlington National Cemetery.