The Writer
Dave Tabler
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….





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
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