Arizona: Michael Blake, the author of Oscar winning novel Dances With Wolves, passed away today at Arizona after a long illness. His death was confirmed by his family, local media reported. He is survived by his wife, Marianne, and their three children.
Michael Blake speaking at Washington in 2007
His manager and producer Daniel Ostroff, who is working on a Dances With Wolves sequel, The Holy Road also confirmed his death. The exact reason for his death is not known as the family has requested privacy.
He was born at Fort Bragg, North Carolina on July 5, 1945. Blake began studied journalism at the University of New Mexico, and later studied at a film school, in Berkeley, California. He also attended Eastern New Mexico University in Portales.
In the late 1970s he moved to Los Angeles; during the eighties only one of his screenplays was produced, called Stacey’s Knights. The movie starred Kevin Costner, who later convinced him to write Dances with Wolves, and then a screenplay for the film based on the novel. He has since gone on to do humanitarian work, and continued to write.
He was the recipient of several awards including, Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Spur Award for Best Motion Picture
Cancervive Victory Award, Eleanor Roosevelt Award for work with minorities and the environment,
Animal Protection Institute’s Humanitarian of the Year, Air Force Sergeants Association’s Americanism Award (1992), Amanda Blake Award, American Library Association’s Library Hero Award,
Environmental Media Award, Golden Quill.
His family has requested that any donations should be made to horse charity the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros.