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Contents 1 David Mas Masumoto 1.1 Writer and journalist 1.2 Biography / Profiles 1.3 Writings & Speeches 1.3.1 Harvest Son: Planting Roots in American Soil

David Mas Masumoto

Writer and journalist

David Mas Masumoto has been called a "renaissance man" because of his incredible success in remarkably varied areas. He is an organic peach and grape farmer, a nationally recognized author, a columnist who has written for The Fresno Bee, USA Today, and The Los Angeles Times, an artist, a husband and father.

Masumoto earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in community development from UC Davis. He also studied at International University in Tokyo, Japan. Despite his formal education, he decided to return to his family’s farm in Fresno, California in the 70s; the land was originally owned by his grandparents when they came to the United States from Japan.

After writing a letter to The Los Angeles Times in 1985, voicing his frustration over being unable to find a market for his family’s Sun Crest Peach, a delicious, yet fragile peach, against the mass commercialism of other strains of peaches, Masumoto decided to write Epitaph for a Peach which celebrates the joys "things worth savoring." The book won the 1995 Julia Child Cookbook Award in the Literary Food Writing category and was a finalist for the 1996 James Beard Foundation Food Writing Award. Other books written since then include Letters to the Valley, Four Seasons in Five Senses and Harvest Son.

David Mas Masumoto continues to write, to make speaking appearances, and to farm. He resides with his wife and their two children in a 90 year old farmhouse just south of Fresno, California. His latest book, Heirlooms: Letters from a Peach Farmer, is set for release in August of 2007.

Sources:

• Cal State University, Fresno
• Author's web site
• Nikkei Federation

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[edit] Biography / Profiles

• Author's web site
• Profile: Japanese American National Museum Store Online
• Grower profile: "David Mas Masumoto / Masumoto Family Farm - Del Rey, CA". Summer FruitShare, early July-2004.
• Profile: Juliana Barbassa, "Peach farmer invites readers into his orchard, and beyond." Monterey Herald, September 1, 2004.

[edit] Writings & Speeches

• Columns written for The Fresno Bee.
• Acceptance speech: Silver Medal, 1999 California Book Award, for Harvest Son: Planting Roots in American Soil
• Keynote address at the 2004 Eco-Farm conference, Monterey, Calif.

[edit] Harvest Son: Planting Roots in American Soil

• Review: Janet Fletcher, "A Sansei Finds New Life on the Farm Third-generation Japanese American reconnects with the land and his past". San Francisco Chronicle, December 27, 1998.