David La Vere

Prof. David La Vere teaches American Indian History at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He is an award-winning author and public speaker. Born in New Orleans, he served a hitch as a Marine Corps infantryman, then earned a B.A. in Journalism from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Upon graduation, he spent five years in Dallas as an advertising copywriter. Discovering he enjoyed writing history more than writing ad copy, he returned to Northwestern State and earned an MA in History, From there he went on to Texas A&M University for his Ph.D. in History. He came to UNC Wilmington in 1993 and is now a professor of history there. La Vere has just finished his seventh book, titled The Tuscarora War: Indians, Settlers and the Fight for the Carolina Colonies, and published in October 2013 by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Press. Besides books, he's written numerous articles for Our State North Carolina magazine and for historical journals. La Vere often lectures around the state, giving talks about the history of North Carolina Indians. He has given a talk at the Oxford Round Table at Oxford University, England on diversity in society.

La Vere other books include: The Lost Rocks: The Dare Stones and the Unsolved Mystery of Sir Walter Raleigh's Lost Colony (Burnt Mill Press, Wilmington, 2011); Looting Spiro Mounds (University of Oklahoma Press, 2007); The Texas Indians (Texas A&M University Press, 2004); Contrary Neighbors: Removed Indians and Plains Indians in Indian Territory (University of Oklahoma Press, 2000); Life Among the Texas Indians (Texas A&M University Press, 1998); and The Caddo Chiefdoms (University of Nebraska Press, 1998). The Texas Indians won the 2005 Best Book Award given by the Philosophical Society of Texas and the 2004 T. R. Fehrenbach Award for Best Book on Texas History given by the Texas History Commission. Contrary Neighbors won the 2001 Oklahoma Book Award for Best Non-Fiction Book on Oklahoma History. He has been a contributing author to two Our State Press publications: North Carolina's Shining Moment: World War II in North Carolina (2005) and North Carolina Churches: Portraits of Grace (2004).