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Get Cozy and Read On
Written By: Lance Hardin - Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust | Issue: Winter 2024
It’s the perfect time to curl up with a good book exploring the natural treasures that are part of the Plateau’s heritage.
If you can’t get out and enjoy one of HCLT’s properties, these reading choices may increase your appreciation for our incredible region – and whet your appetite for warmer and longer days!
Seeking personal renewal, in 1904 former Yale librarian Horace Kephart sought a wild and sparsely inhabited region and soon found himself in the Smoky Mountains, an area he would call the “back of beyond.”
Immersing himself within the community, his interactions as chronicled in Our Southern Highlanders (1913 and republished almost continually since) provided one of the first non-condescending portrayals of Appalachian culture. Kephart’s work would prove pivotal in the drive to establish Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Kephart’s friend and frequent collaborator was George Masa, the enigmatic Japanese-born photographer. Masa photographed Highlands in the 1920s at the request of Frank Cook, then the manager of the Highlands Inn.
In George Masa’s Wild Vision (2022) Brent Martin retraces Masa’s footsteps to document his lasting imprint on western North Carolina while contemplatively challenging the pace and extent of ensuing development.
It is impossible to travel our area without being mesmerized by the presence of Whiteside Mountain. In The Mountain at the End of the Trail (1994, and available through the Highlands Historical Society’s website), the late Dr. Robert Zahner, Clemson professor and Highlands resident, details the natural history, urban lore, commercialization, and ultimate protection of this treasured peak, while urging smart uses that don’t “love it to death.”
Georgann Eubanks’ Saving The Wild South (2021) provides a highly read-able narrative of various initiatives throughout the Southeast seeking to preserve specific native plants. The projects cited provide inspiring examples of the passion, ingenuity, and flexibility required to conserve these endangered resources.
A Road Running Southward (2022) documents Dan Chapman’s modern retracing of John Muir’s 1,000-mile trek through the Southeast in 1867. Amid the effects of climate change, industrialization, invasive plants, and battles over water quality, Chapman finds hope for conservation efforts.
A river’s ability to intertwine storied histories and environmental complexities is captured by retired Wofford professor John Lane in My Paddle to the Sea (2011); part travelogue and part environmental study.
