Delaware from Railways to Freeways by Dave Tabler

Meet the Author with Guest Post:

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.

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Guest Post

• Talk about your favorite book growing up and the impact it had on you.

I read C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe at age 12. One might think that the book most profoundly affecting a writer who loves writing history would in fact be a history book, but that’s not the case with me. What impressed me so deeply about Lewis is his ability to completely immerse the reader in the world of Narnia. His elegant prose offered up just enough details, just enough evocative imagery, to leave space for the reader to fill in the blanks. Lewis never talks down to his teen/YA audience, instead opening door after door to the next phase of his adventure and inviting the reader to walk through. 

Poorly written histories tend to be heavy on treaties and battles, light on crisp narrative arc. They hammer the reader with a “you MUST pay attention, this is important” attitude. I’m drawn instead to the idea that while the new reader may not be aware of all the facts I would like them to have at hand, they nonetheless have made space in their lives to approach my book. They start out bringing an openness, a curiosity. That’s a gift no author should trample on. I feel it’s my duty to clearly paint the world I want my reader to engage in, and then leave enough space that the reader feels welcome in that world, can poke around freely without having to be hit over the head page after page. I love it when I present some topic that makes native Delawareans say to me “I grew up here, and I never knew that!” Their exposure to said topic piques their interest, makes them want to keep going, to see what’s next. I want to walk side by side with my reader, not ahead of them. Guide them, not lecture them. When I succeed at that task, I have C.S. Lewis to thank.

 Thank you so much for sharing how much The Lion,The Witch, and The Wardrobe meant to you. I loved seeing that you, “. . . want to walk side by side with my reader, not ahead of them. Guide them, not lecture them.” This sounds like my kind of book. So, readers, it’s time for us to enter the giveaway!

~ Debbie