"Whether rich or poor, black or white, young or old... life on earth is a challenge.
It gives every human the opportunity to do what the great Jack London adhered to relentlessly more than a hundred years ago.
Use Your Time.
It is the most important thing all can do with their brief existence. Doing it carries each individual deep; far beyond fame and fortune, fear and loss.
Those who use their time not only acknowledge the privilege they have been given. They also provide crucial inspiration for human generations that follow.
This is where we are; along with massive oceans, awesome lands, life in fantastic forms and an atmosphere that controls itself.
Maintaining real life on this planet is why we are here.
Use Your Time."
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. Blake 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.
Other Awards
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
