Dave TablerAt age ten, Dave Tabler announced he would read the R volume of the family's World Book Encyclopedia straight through over summer vacation. He did not make it to the end, but he did discover Norman Rockwell, rare-earth elements, and the Kentucky Derb-an eclectic mix that proved oddly predictive.Encouraged by his father, Tabler began experimenting with photography using the family camera. Inspired by Rockwell, he enlisted his younger brother to pose barefoot beside a stream, straw hat on, holding a homemade fishing pole. The resulting photograph failed spectacularly, but the impulse to tell stories visually stuck.Tabler went on to earn degrees in art history and photojournalism, despite being advised to have a "Plan B." Soon after graduating, he contributed photography to The Illustrated History of American Civil War Relics, an experience that introduced him to museum curators, private collectors, and the discipline of working with fragile artifacts and white cotton gloves. Along the way, he met a musical-saw player in the Shenandoah Valley, a Knoxville man devoted to collecting barbed wire, and Tom Dickey, brother of the author of Deliverance.In 2006, Tabler returned to those early encounters with Appalachian culture by launching AppalachianHistory.net. The site now reaches more than 375,000 readers annually and has become a widely cited resource on the region's social and material past.After moving to Delaware in 2010, Tabler turned his attention to the state's overlooked histories, combining archival research with a storyteller's eye for character and place. His books explore how infrastructure, tradition, and human behavior have shaped life in the First State. Read More Read Less