Heirlooms: Letters from a Peach Farmer

David Mas Masumoto
Illustrations by Doug Hansen

Hardcover, ISBN: 978-1-59714-064-5, $21.95
216 pages (5 x 7), with color illustrations throughout

A Great Valley Book

Earthy wisdom and real-life stories from an award-winning author.

As suburbs swallow more and more rich farmland and reforms change the farming industry, the voices of farmers have never been more important.  In his latest collection of essays, David Mas Masumoto reminds us that food remains the cornerstone of our society, even in the twenty-first century. Pervading his essays is a rooted, proud sense of community, family, and craftsmanship, and tales of toil and triumph over the land that produces the food in our groceries, farmers’ markets, and restaurants. When he describes the ecstasy of taste of a remembered peach, he reminds us that some of our most indelible memories are of food and family.

Written in the form of letters, Masumoto’s essays achieve an intimacy uncommon in American literature. Told by a man leading the fabled simple life, this writing speaks eloquently of the need to protect the so-called bread and butter of life—food, family, and community.

Praise for Masumoto:

“Mas Masumoto’s honest and poetic voice informs the reader gently but emphatically about the values we need to create a sustainable society.”—Alice Waters, executive chef and owner, Chez Panisse

“Masumoto’s books reach for truths that transcend the orchard—the honesty of a really good peach that doesn’t promise more with its looks than it will deliver on that first bite, the value of a thirty-eight-year-old tree that doesn’t produce as much anymore but bears the best-tasting fruit.”—Julianna Barbassa, Associated Press

“Masumoto stands in the rich American tradition of agrarians who wield their pens as brilliantly as their farm implements.”—Michael Pollan, author of Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

About the Author and Illustrator:

David Mas Masumoto grows organic peaches and grapes on his family farm in Del Rey, California. He is the author of Harvest Son, Epitaph for a Peach, Four Seasons in Five Senses, and Letters to the Valley: A Harvest of Memories. An active proponent of organic farming, Masumoto has won numerous literary awards. He is also active in foundation work and in the cultural life of California and beyond.

Doug Hansen has been a Fresno-based illustrator for over thirty years. He comes from a family of artists and is an assistant professor in the Department of Art and Design at California State University, Fresno.