On Saturday, November 14th, Paul Bonesteel, filmmaker and co-author of the George Masa: A Life Reimagined biography and documentary film, will sign books from 11 am to 1 pm, and then screen the film “A Life Reimagined: The George Masa Story” at 1 pm in the Blue Ridge Pa......More
On Saturday, November 14th, Paul Bonesteel, filmmaker and co-author of the George Masa: A Life Reimagined biography and documentary film, will sign books from 11 am to 1 pm, and then screen the film “A Life Reimagined: The George Masa Story” at 1 pm in the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center theater, at milepost 384 on the Parkway. Bonesteel will introduce the film and take audience questions afterward. The book, published by Smokies Life, was co-written by Cornell librarian Janet McCue and Bonesteel and drew on more than 25 years of research and writing. Both the book and film explore the dynamic, mysterious story of photographer George Masa. Through self-taught photography and conservation advocacy, George Masa helped establish Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Appalachian Trail. Paul Bonesteel’s documentary, A Life Reimagined: The George Masa Story, uncovers Masa’s mysterious journey from Japan to Asheville, North Carolina. The film honors his lasting environmental legacy and highlights the profound, often overlooked contributions of Asian Americans to United States history. He was a photographer who helped shape a movement. Masa arrived in the Appalachian Mountains in 1915 and created some of the earliest widely seen photographs of the Great Smoky Mountains. His images played a crucial role in shaping public appreciation for wilderness and influenced trail development, conservation advocacy, and the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Appalachian Trail. After his death in 1933, his photography also helped advocate for the Blue Ridge Parkway. Yet despite his work's enduring impact, Masa’s personal history remained incomplete and largely unknown for nearly a century. Through newly discovered letters and decades of original research in Japan and the United States, “A Life Reimagined” uncovers a far more complex, surprising story. The film traces Masa’s journey from a difficult early life in Japan to formative and turbulent years in the Pacific Northwest, where newly uncovered evidence reveals his involvement in mountaineering and baseball, before his reinvention in Asheville, N.C., and the Southern Appalachian Mountains. While Masa became a well-known and respected figure locally, he faced racial hostilities and federal scrutiny, with his Asheville photography studio being raided by the Ku Klux Klan.These discoveries illuminate a life shaped by ambition and courage, adding depth and urgency to a figure long viewed primarily through his photographs. Filmmaker Bonesteel travels across these landscapes alongside researchers, archivists, and historians, pairing sweeping contemporary footage with Masa’s own images. Blending traditionalinterviews, personal narrative, archival material, and modern visual techniques, including animated sequences, the film centers the act of discovery itself, inviting viewers to follow thequestions, contradictions, and revelations as they unfold. Ultimately, “A Life Reimagined” explores how one immigrant’s passion for and documentation of America’s wilderness helped others recognize landscapes worth protecting, and how revisitingthe past with care and curiosity can fundamentally change what we think we know. “There’s mystery and complexity to this story. As the research unfolded, it became clear that George Masa’s story was far richer and more layered than what we thought we knew,” saidBonesteel. “This film is about discovery - about staying curious, following the evidence, and allowing a life from the past to speak more fully into the present.”The author signing and film screening is presented by America's National Parks and the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.
This program will be inside the visitor center located at Milepost 384. GPS street address is 195 Hemphill Knob Road, Asheville NC 28803
