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About

The Writer

Dave Tabler

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About

Ten year old Dave Tabler decided he was going to read the ‘R’ volume from the family’s World Book Encyclopedia set over summer vacation. He never made it from beginning to end. He did, however, become interested in Norman Rockwell, rare-earth elements, and Run for the Roses.

Tabler’s father encouraged him to try his hand at taking pictures with the family camera. With visions of Rockwell dancing in his head, Tabler press-ganged his younger brother into wearing a straw hat and sitting next to a stream barefoot with a homemade fishing pole in his hand. The resulting image was terrible. 

Dave Tabler went on to earn degrees in art history and photojournalism despite being told he needed a ‘Plan B.’

Fresh out of college, Tabler contributed the photography for “The Illustrated History of American Civil War Relics,” which taught him how to work with museum curators, collectors, and white cotton gloves. He met a man in the Shenandoah Valley who played the musical saw, a Knoxville fellow who specialized in collecting barbed wire, and Tom Dickey, brother of the man who wrote ‘Deliverance.’

In 2006 Tabler circled back to these earlier encounters with Appalachian culture as an idea for a blog. AppalachianHistory.net today reaches 375,000 readers a year.

Dave Tabler moved to Delaware in 2010 and became smitten with its rich past. He no longer copies Norman Rockwell, but his experience working with curators and collectors came in handy when he got the urge to photograph a love letter to Delaware’s early heritage. This may be the start of something.

delaware resident

one book so far

Number two book percolating….

_upscale _blur
closeup of a flax hackle
kalmar nyckel at dock
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Upcoming Book Signings


BrowseAbout Books, Rehoboth Beach – Book Signing

May 26, 2023

Harrington Historical Society, Harrington, DE

July 6, 2023

Bethany Beach Books, Bethany Beach – Book Signing

July 20, 2023

Writing is like bonsai

THEY BOTH REQUIRE ENDLESS PRUNING; ENDLESS PATIENCE

You start out with grand visions. But then, the tedium sets in. Pruning, nipping. The finished version still seems so very far away. More shaping. How long, oh Lord? How long? But eventually…

Author Dave Tabler

1234 Main St., Anywhere, US 10000