Michael Blake
Michael Blake was an American author and screenwriter, most renowned for his novel and screenplay, *Dances with Wolves*, which was published in 1988 and adapted into an award-winning film in 1990. The story follows Lieutenant John Dunbar, a Union officer during the Civil War, who develops a deep connection with the Lakota tribe, offering an authentic portrayal of Native American culture. The film received critical acclaim and was praised by American Indians for its respectful representation. Blake's adaptation won him an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and a Golden Globe.
In addition to *Dances with Wolves*, Blake authored several other historical novels, including *Airman Mortenson* and *The Holy Road*, the latter being a sequel to his most famous work. He was also involved in conservation efforts, particularly advocating for the protection of wild horses in the American West. Blake's contributions extended beyond literature into performance, with a one-man play that reflected on his experiences in the publishing and film industries. He passed away in 2015 due to heart failure, leaving behind a legacy that intertwines storytelling with advocacy for cultural and environmental preservation.
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Michael Blake
- Born: July 5, 1945
- Birthplace: Fort Bragg, North Carolina
- Died: May 2, 2015
- Place of death: Tucson, Arizona
Biography
Michael Blake is best known for his screeplay Dances with Wolves, which he adapted from his novel of the same name. Dances with Wolves starred Kevin Costner as Lieutenant John Dunbar, a disillusioned Union officer during the Civil War who, as battlefield hero, asks for a transfer to the West. The motion picture became an instant success among critics and viewers, inspiring people to read Blake’s novel. The film also was well received by American Indians, who found it a reliable and authentic presentation of their culture. Dunbar’s stay with the Lakotas, the tribe he encounters when he assumes his command at a deserted military camp, reveals the humanity of these people, contrasting it with the behavior of the “civilized” white men, who now kill one another for forgotten reasons and mindless hatred. Moving in among the Lakotas, Dunbar notes their activities and traditions in his journal, which serves to comment on the simple if dignified Plains people and their inevitable extinction at the hands of encroaching soldiers, settlers, and other tribes.
Blake was born in 1945. His novel, Dances with Wolves, was published in 1988, and received a Writers Guild Award. He earned even greater recognition when he adapted the novel for the screen in 1990. The film Dances with Wolves won the Academy Award for best picture of 1990. In addition, Blake received an Oscar for best adapted screenplay, and a Golden Globe Award for best screenplay.
In addition to Dances with Wolves Blake wrote three other historical novels into the early twenty-first century: Airman Mortenson (1991), Marching to Valhalla, 1996, and The Holy Road (2001), a sequel to Dances with Wolves. The Holy Road takes places eleven years after Dances with Wolves and once again features Dunbar as its protagonist. Dunbar’s fears about the extinction of the Plains people have been realized and the culture of the Western Plains tribes has passed. Blake intended the sequel to be adapted as a screenplay; while his goal had not come to fruition as of 2017, it was reportedly in the works.
In 2002, Blake, a former actor, starred in a one-man play, Like a Running Dog: Books and Hollywood, which dramatized scenes from his novels. The multimedia production criticized the Eastern publishing establishment and revealed Blake’s Hollywood experiences with overruns, schedules, casting problems, and other difficulties that the film Dances with Wolves endured. Additionally, he had penned an autobiography documenting his struggles to find success, titled Like a Running Dog, that was published that same year. Blake also remained a committed conservationist and preservationist of the American West. In 1993, he signed a deposition in opposition to Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and the Bureau of Land Management in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to halt the destruction, sale, or removal of wild horses from their natural habitats in Nevada. Blake alleged these practices were contrary to the provisions of the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. He envisioned a screenplay about the plight of the wild horses and how it has changed the West.
Blake published the nonfiction works Indian Yell: The Heart of an American Insurgency in 2006 and Twelve: The King in 2009. After a period of ten years, he published his final novel, a story set during World War I titled Into the Stars, in 2011. Having suffered from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and undergone double bypass surgery in the early 2000s, he died from heart failure on May 2, 2015, in Tucson, Arizona, at the age of sixty-nine.
Bibliography
Beason, Tyrone. "Dances with Wolves Author Michael Blake Pens Sequel." The Seattle Times, 14 Oct. 2001, community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20011014&slug=blake14. Accessed 21 Nov. 2017.
Densmore, John. "Dances with Freedom: Doors' John Densmore Remembers Writer Michael Blake." Rolling Stone, 5 May 2015, www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/dances-with-freedom-doors-john-densmore-remembers-writer-michael-blake-20150505. Accessed 21 Nov. 2017.
Galvan, Astrid. "Michael Blake: Oscar-Winning Writer Who Was Encouraged by Kevin Costner to Write Dances with Wolves." The Independent, 10 May 2015, www.independent.co.uk/news/people/michael-blake-oscar-winning-writer-who-was-encouraged-by-kevin-costner-to-write-dances-with-wolves-10239395.html. Accessed 21 Nov. 2017.
"Michael Blake Dies; Writer Won Oscar for Dances with Wolves." The Washington Post, 5 May 2015, www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/michael-blake-dies-writer-won-oscar-for-dances-with-wolves/2015/05/05/a2d07282-f336-11e4-84a6-6d7c67c50db0‗story.html?utm‗term=.26e16bba3dec. Accessed 21 Nov. 2017.
Weber, Bruce. "Michael Blake, 69, Writer, Dies; Won Oscar for Dances with Wolves." The New York Times, 4 May 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/movies/michael-blake-69-oscar-winning-screenwriter-dies.html. Accessed 21 Nov. 2017.