Michael Blake
Michael Blake overcame significant hardships before achieving literary success.
Struggling for years in Hollywood as a screenwriter, he lived in his car and later worked as a dishwasher in an Arizona Chinese restaurant.
His close friendship with actor Kevin Costner proved transformative — after Blake wrote the Dances with Wolves manuscript, Costner encouraged him to develop it into a film script.
The resulting novel became a New York Times #1 bestseller, and Blake won the 1991 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Blake later dedicated himself to humanitarian work, living in Arizona until his death in May 2015.
