From a Cornell University librarian and a documentary filmmaker comes the first comprehensive biography of the visionary Japanese photographer who never became a US citizen yet was lauded 90 years after his death by President Barack Obama for reminding us “what citizenship is all about.”
Friendly and likeable yet quiet and retiring, George Masa made a dramatic impact within his adopted Southern Appalachian community and far beyond until his death in 1933. Paul Bonesteel’s 2002 film The Mystery of George Masa rekindled interest in the photographer. Then, in 2019, a chapter of Janet McCue’s Back of Beyond: A Horace Kephart Biography with George Ellison explored Masa’s unique friendship and powerful collaboration with Kephart in words and images. Now, after conducting groundbreaking research in the US and Japan, McCue and Bonesteel tell the fascinating story of an immigrant who endured scrutiny from the Bureau of Investigation, harassment from the Ku Klux Klan, and the collapse of the economy, his business, and his health—all while making it his life’s goal to champion conservation in Southern Appalachia.
About the authors
Janet McCue is a writer, researcher, avid hiker, and co-author with the late George Ellison of 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 in 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. Bonesteel’s 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, America’s 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. Learn more at Bonesteelfilms.com.
Events
Friday, January 16, 2025 from 1 to 2 p.m. ET Janet McCue and Paul Bonesteel are featured speakers for Forest History Society’s “Conversations in Forest History” webinar series. More info
Praise for the book
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