Imagine a young boy named Blake Tyner, growing up in the heart of North Carolina, where history practically seeps from the soil and the air is thick with the scent of slow-cooked barbecue. Blake wasn’t just surrounded by history – he was immersed in it, spending hours upon hours in the warm, bustling kitchen of his great-grandparents’ home. The clatter of pots and pans, the hum of lively chatter, the clinking of silverware against plates – all served as the soundtrack to the vibrant stories of his ancestors.
Those stories, shared over heaping plates of fried chicken and collard greens, sparked something in young Blake. He felt an insatiable hunger to breathe life into the tales of those who came before, to make their struggles and triumphs feel as real and relatable as the people he shared meals with.
By the time he was just 14, Blake’s passion had already found an outlet. He began reporting for The St. Pauls Review, his words pouring onto the page in a weekly column that earned him a literal 2 cents per word. It wasn’t a fortune, but it was a start, and it fueled his determination to hone his craft and delve deeper into the stories that mattered most.
Blake’s journey took him to the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, where he studied history under the guidance of renowned Southern historian and author Steven Berry. He threw himself into his work, earning not just a degree but a deep understanding of the past and its power to shape our present. He went on to specialize in archives and manuscripts, earning a Master of Library Science and arming himself with the tools to uncover even the most hidden histories.
Today, Blake is a historian, author, and preservationist, with four books and countless articles to his name. He serves as the head of guest services at the Museum of Southeastern American Indians on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He’s served as the Executive Director of the Maxton Historical Society and the Robeson County History Museum, working tirelessly to protect and promote the stories of his beloved North Carolina.
But Blake’s greatest passion project may be the way he weaves together his loves of history, photography, and cooking. Through initiatives like The Blake Show, Cooking Always Helps, History Bites and Helen Corbitt – Mother of Texas Cooking, he brings the past to life in a way that’s as delicious as it is meaningful. He invites us all to pull up a chair, take a bite, and truly taste the stories that have shaped us.