Heirlooms
Letters from a Peach Farmer

by David Mas Masumoto
illustrated by Doug Hansen

Dear Reader,

A letter.
A hug with words.
People matter in letters - that is part of the personal nature of correspondence. A letter starts with "Dear," a serious word about caring. Today letters still count. Even with high technology, the Internet, cell phones, text messaging and computers, one major means of community has become email. Old-fashioned letter writings. Words still matter.

That's how peach farmer and author David Mas Masumoto opens this second book based on his enormously popular column that has appeared in the Fresno Bee since 2002. As he did in his first collection, Letters to the Valley (Heyday, 2005), Masumoto writes in the form of letters because they allow the expression of real emotions that might be shared with family and friends. Divided into five sections, Heirlooms explores the life and rhythms of Masumoto's farm, the rapidly changing landscapes of California's Central Valley, and the personalities who populate Masumoto's life. The essays tell of the "other California," a place where family homesteads abound yet are faced with the constant threat of development.

Cloth bound, $21.95.
208 pages with color illustrations throughout.
A Great Valley Book