Letters to the Valley A Harvest of Memories By Mas Masumoto Illustrations by Doug Hansen Great Valley Series Heyday Books,  Berkeley 134 Pages, Hardcover ISBN 1890771864

A collection of essays, this book captures the life and spirit of a farming valley, her people and places, written from the point of view of a native son and a father. Masumoto uses a series of “letters” to explore relationships and perspectives, each probing a different aspect of life in the Central Valley.

Divided into three sections:

• Letters from a Farmer
   
• Family Letters
   
• Community Correspondence

The letters range:

• from talking to grapevines to a hunger for flavor memories from our past;
   
• from thinking of my immigrant grandparents as weeds and later natural grasses in our valley to advice to farm kids;
   
• from the ghosts of farm workers and hard pan rocks in my fields to good neighbors in the “other California” I call home.

These essays open a door into a real, but never forgotten world of working the land, raising a family and being a good neighbor

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

“Written in the form of casual letters from a farmer to members of his family, these finely crafted pieces capture the rhythms of life and work in an orchard, and the interleaving of family and farm over three generations. Masumoto stands in the rich American tradition of agrarians who wield their pens as brilliantly as their farm implements. Letters to the Valley is a delight.” Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire

From the publisher, Heyday Books...

Letters to the Valley, A Harvest of Memories is a book of thoughtful observations by farmer and award-winning author David Mas Masumoto. In his writing, Masumoto, a third-generation Californian, has crafted the voice of a farmer, the rural perspective on everyday living.

Sparked by an editor’s comment that “creating a good column is like writing a letter to a friend,” be began a column - in the form of letters to friends, to his father and others - that has become a regular feature in the Fresno Bee. What he has created in these letters is an ongoing conversation. From the unique perspective of a farmer on a working farm, he talks about the struggles of maintaining an organic peach farm. Here his farming and community serve as a backdrop to the “letters” he writes, offering the concerns of a parent, the memories of a son, the advice of a friend.

With the warmth of the wonderful, color illustrations by Doug Hansen (created specifically to accompany each of the letters), readers will encounter wisdom, humor, sage advice. Along the way, the letters will take you on Masumoto’s journey from a small town in California’s Central Valley to the University of California and back again to the life of a farmer, teacher and writer.