Smokies Life publishes George Masa biography
George Masa stands at the Biltmore Estate circa 1920s. Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Memorial Public Library photo
Smokies Life has announced the publication of “George Masa: A Life Reimagined,” 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, as well as the creation of the Appalachian Trail.
Coauthored by Cornell University librarian Janet McCue and documentary filmmaker Paul Bonesteel, “George Masa: A Life Reimagined” answers 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 one summer day in 1915.
Despite his significant role in park history, until now, little has been known about Masa’s personal struggles and triumphs during his pre-Asheville life. McCue and Bonesteel’s biography — relying on letters, journal entries, train tickets and public records scattered from Japan to the Great Smoky Mountains — sheds light for the first time on why Masa might have been drawn to mountainous landscapes, showing him as an ambitious artist who also sought to serve a greater cause.
The book also explores the many trials Masa endured — scrutiny in 1918 from the agency now known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, harassment from the Ku Klux Klan in 1921, the collapse of the economy, his business and his health in the early 1930s — while still choosing to devote himself to the conservation of the Southern Appalachians.
“People were touched by his dedication during his lifetime and 90 years later we still are,” McCue said. “That’s a long shadow.”
McCue’s interest in Masa began years ago as she was researching his close friend Horace Kephart and writing what would become “Back of Beyond: A Horace Kephart Biography” with the late George Ellison.
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Soon after the 2019 release of “Back of Beyond,” which won that year’s Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, McCue had already begun talking with Bonesteel about a new project: co-writing a full-length biography of Kephart’s companion George Masa.
Bonesteel first caught the “Masa bug” after reading a 1997 essay titled “George Masa: The Best Mountaineer” by William A. Hart Jr., who also penned the introduction for this new 320-page biography. Bonesteel’s 2002 documentary “The Mystery of George Masa” revealed what was known about the photographer up until that point and helped generate renewed interest in Masa.
“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,” said Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan of “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” “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.”
Told with care and attention to detail, this groundbreaking biography vividly illustrates the life of an ambitious artist striving for “a great future, a castle of success” but also for a role serving a greater cause — a creative and energetic man who reimagined his life, time and time again.
Available now, the 6x9-inch paperback, which includes a 32-page color photo insert, can be purchased for $28.95 in the park’s visitor center bookstores and at smokieslife.org.
The public is invited to the following free events in celebration of the book’s launch:
• ”Library Talk” with the Authors in partnership with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café: Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2–3:30 p.m., East Asheville Library, 3 Avon Road, Asheville.
• “Book Launch Party” in partnership with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café: Wednesday, Sept. 11, 7–9 p.m. at Citizen Vinyl, 14 O. Henry Street, Asheville.
• “Book Signing”: Saturday, Sept. 14, 1–4 p.m. at Smoky Mountain Outdoor Center, 7138 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Townsend, Tennessee.
• “An Evening with the Authors” in partnership with Highlands Cashiers Land Trust: Monday, Sept. 16, 5:30–7:30 p.m., Highlands Inn, 420 Main Street, Highlands.
For more information about Smokies Life and to join, visit smokieslife.org.
