George Masa: A Life Reimagined by Janet McCue Paperback Book

Description: George Masa: A Life Reimagined by Janet McCue, Paul Bonesteel "From Cornell University librarian Janet McCue and documentary filmmaker Paul Bonesteel comes the first comprehensively researched biography of the visionary Japanese photographer whose dedication to art and conservation helped spur the national park movement in the Great Smoky Mountains and the creation of the Appalachian Trail"-- FORMAT Paperback CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description From Cornell University librarian Janet McCue and documentary filmmaker Paul Bonesteel comes the first comprehensively researched biography of the visionary Japanese photographer whose dedication to art and conservation helped spur the national park movement in the Great Smoky Mountains and the creation of the Appalachian Trail.What moves a person to leave all that they have known for something new, something different, something adventurous?In this fascinating historical biography, coauthors Janet McCue and Paul Bonesteel answer fundamental questions that have swirled around the man known as George Masa ever since the young Japanese immigrant stepped off a train in the mountain city of Asheville, North Carolina, one summer day in 1915. What Masas biographers reveal--through letters, journal entries, train tickets, and public records scattered from Japan to the Great Smoky Mountains--brings into focus for the very first time the personal struggles and triumphs of an emerging environmental hero.Until now, little has been widely known of Masa beyond the striking images he captured of the Smokies that played a pivotal role in justifying their perpetual protection within the boundary of a national park--a park that is now the most visited in the United States. In his life, Masa shared scant details about his background with his Asheville friends and revealed nothing of the sights and sounds from the native home that shaped his upbringing.In the years since he died penniless in 1933, many have wondered how this singular figure with a slight frame--friendly and likable yet "quiet and retiring in nature with most people"--managed to make such a dramatic impact on those within his adopted Appalachian community and far beyond.Although attention to Masa faded for a time, Paul Bonesteels 2002 documentary film The Mystery of George Masa kindled renewed interest in the photographers life and accomplishments.In 2009, awareness of Masa as a trailblazing conservationist increased tremendously once again through the six-part Ken Burns documentary The National Parks: Americas Best Idea. The fourth installment of the series, titled "Going Home," focuses specifically on George Masa and Horace Kephart as charismatic collaborators and conservationists who advocated for the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.More recently, in 2019, Janet McCue co-authored the award-winning Back of Beyond: A Horace Kephart Biography along with the late George Ellison. In their thorough biography, McCue and Ellison devote a chapter, "Congenial Comrades" to the close and perhaps unlikely friendship of Horace Kephart and George Masa.Now collaborating to tell Masas story in full for the first time with the benefit of years of research conducted in both the United States and Japan, McCue and Bonesteel explore how an immigrant far from home who endured more than his fair share of trials--scrutiny from the Bureau of Investigation in 1918, harassment from the Ku Klux Klan in 1921, then the collapse of the economy, his business, and his health in the early 1930s--ultimately chose to dedicate himself to conservation in Southern Appalachia.Told with care and attention to detail, this groundbreaking biography sheds light on why Masa might have been drawn to mountainous landscapes and why, soon after his arrival in Asheville, he began a conversation with the ancient peaks of Western North Carolina. At last, we discover an ambitious artist striving for a great future, a "castle of success," but also a role serving a greater cause--a creative and energetic man who reimagined his life time and time again. Author Biography Janet McCue is a writer, researcher, avid hiker, and co-author with the late George Ellison Back of Beyond: A Horace Kephart Biography, which won the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award shortly after its release in 2019. She collaborated with Ellison on several other publications, including the biographical chapter Horace Kephart: Writings (2020). In the 1970s, McCue and her husband began exploring the Great Smoky Mountains on extended backpacking trips; her interest continues today through her work on George Masa, Kephart, and the Smokies Life board of directors. For three decades, McCue was a librarian at Cornell University where she specialized in library administration and digital library development. She lives in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, writing regularly about the beauty and bounty of the area.Paul Bonesteel is a filmmaker, writer, and passionate lover of the outdoors. Bonesteels first experience in the Smokies was a 1972 hike up Mount Le Conte when he was seven years old. His filmmaking, research, and writing have informed the conversation and celebration of George Masa since his making The Mystery of George Masa film in 2002. Other award-winning films include The Great American Quilt Revival, The Day Carl Sandburg Died, Americas First Forest: Carl Schenck and the Asheville Experiment, Muni, and the four-part Shadow of a Wheel. He grew up hiking, biking, fishing, and exploring the mountains around Hendersonville, North Carolina, and has lived in Asheville for 25 years with his wife, Wyndy, and two sons, Jonah and Luke. Review "McCue and Bonesteel have, in essence, accomplished a feat similar to that of their subject. Like Masa, they have endeavored to map a great wonder of this world through careful exploration and precise vision. This examination of a life often steeped in mystery serves as a touchstone for understanding the deep complexities of race, culture, society, and landscape in America during a period of deep national and political unrest. Masas story, though one of a man of awe-inspiring talent and even greater ambition, still reminds us that the immense beauty of our natural world is always in direct competition with the threat of mankinds savage civilizations." Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, author of Even as We Breathe"George Masa: A Life Reimagined is a long overdue look at a man possessed of a beautifulobsession: photographer Masa sought to experience, capture, and share his adoptedlandscape before it was altered by the hands of men. Masas journey from Japan to theUnited States and his oft-mysterious life in Southern Appalachia is not merely about aman coming to America to make his way but rather about America itself. Anyone who hasever relished the joys of the Great Smokies is indebted to the talents of George Masa. Weare now equally indebted to McCue and Bonesteel, who painstakingly worked to breathenew life into the story of this inspiring man." Denise Kiernan, New York Times bestselling author of The Girls of Atomic City, The Last Castle, and We Gather Together"Extensively researched and well written, George Masa: A Life Reimagined is an impressive achievement. Janet McCue and Paul Bonesteel have done an excellent job of finding and digging deep into all known source material on Masa, and the resulting book is an engaging biography of this famed photographer of the Great Smokies." Kevin W. Young, author of The Violent World of Broadus Miller: A Story of Murder, Lynch Mobs, and Judicial Punishment in the Carolinas"Ive been fascinated with Masa since I was a teenager immersed in backpacking andphotography. What little I could find out about him back then left only an impression of anintriguing foggy figure, always a sidekick in the shadow of Horace Kephart. This meticulouslyresearched book helps pull Masa into the spotlight and rightfully credits him for his importantcontributions to the history and culture of the Southern Appalachians. It also very interestinglyplaces him not only in the mountains he loved but also in the context of Asheville in thetwenties and thirties--a vibrant small city with all the brightness and darkness of the time." Charles Frazier, author of Cold Mountain"Of the many people responsible for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, George Masas contribution is surely the most poignant and intriguing. This biography is long overdue, and thanks to the diligence and talent of Janet McCue and Paul Bonesteel, George Masa: A Life Reimagined proves worthy of its subject. An essential addition to the story of the parks creation." Ron Rash, author of Serena"George Masa arrived as a stranger to the Great Smoky Mountains, adopted them as his home, and then--through his photographic artistry and untiring dedication--inspired others to preserve them as a national park. But until now, much of his personal story was lost to history. Through a remarkable achievement in biographical research, Janet McCue and Paul Bonesteel have filled in the gaps and finally give this hero of the national park idea his due." Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns, The National Parks: Americas Best Idea"Deeply researched, intimately written, this book uncovers the complex life of a Japanese man who chose to live far away from his home country and the West Coast Japanese community and dedicated his life to capturing the beauty of the Great Smokies and the Appalachian Trail." Kazuhiro Oharazeki, associate professor, Seinan Gakuin University Details ISBN1737035138 Author Paul Bonesteel Year 2024 ISBN-13 9781737035138 Format Paperback Audience General Publication Date 2024-09-10 Publisher Smokies Life Imprint Smokies Life Pages 262 DEWEY B Illustrations Illustrations We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:161533774;

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