When I was doing research on Maymie Cowley, the madam at the Miramar Beach Inn, a friend suggested that I write San Francisco columnist Herb Caen. “He knows everybody,” the friend reminded me. I did write Caen, asking about Maymie, and Caen’s assistant looked into the files and came up with a story linking famous attorney Vincent Hallinan with Maymie Cowley. The story, a small clip, reported a government raid on Maymie’s roadhouse during Prohibition–and that Vincent Hallinan was representing her.
But when I wrote Vincent Hallinan in 1976, hoping he would hand me a big story, it was many, many legal cases after his brief connection with Half Moon Bay’s madam.
Dec 23, 1976
Dear Miss Morrall,
Please remember that my representation of Maymie Cowley occurred almost 50 years ao and would be one in thousands I have represented or consulted, etc.
Actually, her name rang a slight tinkle in my memory but not enough to recall any circumstance concerning her.
Last Saturday I drove down to Pebble Beach along Highway 1. It was the first time in 25 or 30 years I had seen Half Moon Bay and its environs. The chief recollection was of artichokes and rumrunners.
Sorry, I can’t help you in your research but that’s it.
Very truly yours,
Vincent Hallinan