Michael Blake Biographical Information
Michael
Blake was born on July 5, 1945 at Fort Bragg, North
Carolina. His family traveled to Texas before settling in
Southern California where they moved constantly from town to town
and Michael Blake moved from school to school.
His writing career began while stationed at Walker Air Force Base
when he was assigned to the Public Information Office as
assistant editor of the base newspaper, The Strategian. Following
separation he pursued his writing as a student journalist at the
University of New Mexico. On leaving school in 1970 he continued
to write for periodicals. In the seventies he attended film
school in Berkeley California and began to write screenplays. At
the end of the seventies he relocated to Los Angeles to be closer
to the film industry. All through the eighties, one screenplay
was made into a movie, a small, independent movie titled Stacy's
Knights that starred a young unknown actor named Kevin Costner.
It was Costner who, in early 1986, encouraged Blake to turn an
idea for a story about Indians into a novel. Dances With Wolves,
after much rejection, was published in paperback and to little
fanfare in 1988. In late 1989 however, the film written by Blake
and based upon his novel, was released to worldwide acclaim. In
1990 the writer won every major award for his effort, including
the Oscar. While continuing to write in the years following Blake
embarked a long period of public service which was acknowledged
with many more awards, among them the Eleanor Roosevelt award for
work with minorities, the Animal Protection Institute's
Humanitarian of the year, the U.S. Air Force's Americanism Award
and the American library Association's Library Hero Award.
Blake's second novel Airman
Mortensen, an autobiographical tale
of his military adventures, was published in 1991. , a non-fiction
novel of Custer's last days followed in 1996 and The Holy Road,
sequel to Dances
With Wolves, was published late in 2001. Married
in 1993, Blake is the father of three young children, five, four
and one. He currently lives on a ranch in southern Arizona.
Future projects include a film of The
Holy Road and the last of
three books in the Dances
With Wolves series.
Americanism Award
Michael Blake received
the Americanism Award from the Air Force Sergeants Association in 1992.
The award is one of AFSA's most prestigious awards presented for the
development of programs, ceremonies, or other initiatives furthering
patriotism in America. The association's elected International President
with the advice and final approval of the AFSA International Executive
Council selects the recipient of the award.
Professional
ACADEMY AWARD
GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD
SILVER SPUR
AMERICAN MOVIE AWARD
WGA AWARD
ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIA AWARD
GOLDEN QUILL
Public
Service
CANCERVIVE
ANIMAL PROTECTION INSTITUTE
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
AMANDA BLAKE AWARD
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT AWARD
