Submitted by Sharon Donovan
YOSEMITE – With the 150th anniversary of the Yosemite Grant Act coming up in June, and the summer travel season just around the corner, it’s time to check out some inspiring new books from Yosemite Conservancy.
Due out in June, Yosemite in Pictures, by up-and-coming nature photographer Ryan Alonzo, is a sweet little gift book for the Yosemite lover.
Alonzo works at the park, so he gets an insider’s view of those special moments of weather and light that most of us miss.
His photos are stunning, capturing all the majestic mountains, waterfalls, wildlife, and unique natural features of this extraordinary place.
Also due out in June, Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers is for the explorer type — some mountain meditations to inspire the climber, backpacker, hiker, and adventurer in all of us. Quotes from well-known climbers, nature writers, poets, philosophers, and leading adventurers are paired with beautiful images of Yosemite by renowned landscape photographer Michael Frye.
And lastly, published last November, a reminder of Seed of the Future: Yosemite and the Evolution of the National Park Idea by Emmy Award-winning writer and documentary filmmaker Dayton Duncan. Lavishly illustrated with more than one hundred archival images and full-color landscape photographs, Duncan’s compelling narrative honors the 150th anniversary of the Yosemite Grant Act.
Yosemite In Pictures
Ryan Alonzo
Each new generation sees Yosemite National Park with a fresh set of eyes and a unique perspective. With Yosemite in Pictures, up-and-coming nature photographer Ryan Alonzo has dedicated much of his creative talent to capturing the endless beauty and inspiration that this spectacular park has to
offer.
The urge to capture the park’s scenery is powerful in most visitors, but if one’s own photographs don’t quite do justice to the towering granites, thundering waterfalls, and spectacular vistas, Yosemite in Pictures can, not only as a keepsake for those visitors, but also as a gift for those back home.
Alonzo’s eye is also unique because he lives and works in the park and captures those incredible moments of light, weather, and wildlife when nobody else is around. The dramatic shots in this fresh, affordable book are accompanied by key information that visitors and park admirers will want to remember and share. Highlights include Yosemite Valley, the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, Tuolumne Meadows, and Glacier Point.
As one of the crown jewels of this country’s national park system, Yosemite attracts more than four million visitors each year. Yosemite in Pictures is an exquisite collection of photographs that demonstrates what makes this park special and a lasting legacy to future generations.
About the photographer
Ryan Alonzo has been working in Yosemite for the past 10 years. It was the incredible beauty and grandeur of Yosemite National Park that first inspired him to pick up a camera. His photography has since been published in the United States and internationally. He currently spends his summers in Yosemite and winters traveling and exploring the world.
YOSEMITE IN PICTURES
Ryan Alonzo
Publisher: Yosemite Conservancy, yosemiteconservancy.org
Publication date: June 10, 2014
Travel | 48 pages | ISBN: 978-1-930238-47-3 | Price: $8.95 hardcover
Illustrated with full-color and black-and-white photographs throughout
“To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.”
—Terry Tempest Williams
from Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers
Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers
Photographs by Michael Frye
Edited by Claudia Welsh
The spirit of adventure is alive and well in Yosemite, and nearly four million visitors each year find their own version of nirvana within its great granite walls and expansive wilderness. A recent survey showed a 98 percent satisfaction rate among Yosemite National Park visitors*, and no wonder: few places on earth combine the tremendous opportunities for recreational well being with the sheer beauty of Yosemite.
Whether it’s the result of a rush of endorphins or the peace that comes with gazing on nature’s bounty, few would argue that spending time out-of-doors is good for both body and soul. Doing its part to inspire us to head out and find our own kind of happiness is Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers, a pocket-sized volume of lush photographs paired with quotations that capture the feeling that something wonderful is waiting just over there.
With a foreword by the legendary climber Royal Robbins, the book features writers, thinkers, and bona fide adventurers including Edward Abbey, Cheryl Strayed, Bill Bryson, Lynn Hill, Ron Kauk, Wendell Berry, Yvon Chouinard and many more.
Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature and has contributed to books about Yosemite as well as articles about photography in publications worldwide. He lived in Yosemite National Park for many years and maintains his photography studio in nearby Mariposa, California. Claudia Welsh lived in Yosemite for 25 years, spending most of that time as a buyer and manager of the Ansel Adams Gallery.
Welsh still lives near the park, in Mariposa, where she works with her husband, photographer Michael Frye.
Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers
Photographs by Michael Frye, Edited by Claudia Welsh
Publisher: Yosemite Conservancy, yosemiteconservancy.org
Publication Date: June 10, 2014
Travel & Inspiration | 96 pages | ISBN: 978-1-930238-46-6 | Price: $9.95 hardcover
Illustrated with full-color photographs throughout
“Who else—maybe Thoreau or Muir—loves this land and its possibilities the way Dayton Duncan does? Most of us have had our moments in Nature; Dayton Duncan has transformed those transformations into a calling—awakening everyone to the rich inheritance that is our National Parks. And he does so in this inspiring book with loving, affecting, stirring narrative and John Muir’s old gift of evangelism.”
—Ken Burns, Filmmaker
Seed of the Future – Yosemite and the Evolution of the National Park Idea
By Dayton Duncan
Our national park and land conservation movement is something Americans can all be proud of. Yosemite National Park is one of the crown jewels of this effort, and it appeals to conservationists, environmentalists, naturalists, scientists, backpackers, hikers, climbers, travelers and photographers on a national and international level. Yosemite National Park alone hosts four million visitors per year from around the world.
While the concept of national parks now seems a given, 150 years ago it was not a foregone conclusion that a nation’s most special landscapes would be saved.
Seed of the Future: Yosemite and the Evolution of the National Park Idea honors the 150th anniversary of the Yosemite Grant Act, a bill signed by Abraham Lincoln that is the first instance of scenic, wilderness lands being preserved specifically for public use, resort and recreation by action of the U.S. federal government.
Award-winning writer and documentary filmmaker, Dayton Duncan, who produced with Ken Burns the PBS series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, is the author of Seed of the Future. His compelling narrative, lavishly illustrated with more than one hundred archival images and full-color landscape photographs, is sure to inspire future generations to do their part for Yosemite and all protected areas.
Through the efforts of visionaries such James Mason Hutchings, Galen Clark, Frederick Law Olmsted, John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt, among others, the world learned of Yosemite, flocked to it, nearly destroyed it, and finally saved it. These fascinating characters and their enduring stories are skillfully woven together in this lively portrayal of the beginnings of the preservation movement. The idea of preserving special places grew into the national park idea, and it started on its course from a seed, a seed planted in Yosemite in 1864.
Dayton Duncan is an award-winning writer and documentary filmmaker. He has served on the boards of the National Park Foundation, the Student Conservation Association, and the Conservation Lands Foundation, and was appointed by President Clinton as chair of the American Heritage Rivers Advisory Committee. For more than twenty years he has been making documentaries for PBS with Ken Burns, including The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, for which he won two Emmy awards as writer and producer, and was named honorary park ranger by the director of the National Park Service. This is his twelfth book.
Photo credit: Al Golub / Golub Photography
Seed of the Future: Yosemite and the Evolution of the National Park Idea
by Dayton Duncan
Publisher: Yosemite Conservancy, yosemiteconservancy.org
Publication Date: November 26, 2013
History/Nature | 224 pages | ISBN: 978-1-930238-42-8 | Price: $27.00 paperback with flaps
Illustrated with more than 100 archival images and full-color landscape photographs
Coming Fall 2014 — A revised tenth anniversary edition:
Yosemite Meditations
Publisher: Yosemite Conservancy
Pub Date: September 9, 2014 | Travel & Inspiration
96 pages | ISBN: 978-1-930238-50-3
Price: $9.95 hardcover | Illustrated with full-color
photographs throughout
Also available:
Yosemite Meditations for Women
Publisher: Yosemite Conservancy
Travel & Inspiration | 96 pages | ISBN: 978-1-930238-40-4
Price: $9.95 hardcover | Illustrated with full-color photographs throughout
Seed of the Future is available now wherever books are sold or by calling 1-209-379-2317 ext. 17.
Yosemite in Pictures will be available in June wherever books are sold or is available now by calling 1-209-379-2317 ext. 17.
Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers will be available in June wherever books are sold or by calling 1-209-379-2317 ext. 17.
* 2013 Visitor Survey Card Data Project (done as part of the Government Performance and Results Act) that shows 98 percent of Yosemite’s visitors are satisfied overall with facilities, services and recreation opportunities: http://www.nps.gov/yose/naturescience/upload/2013visitorsurveycard.pdf
Yosemite National Park will be celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Yosemite Grant Act throughout 2014.
About Yosemite Conservancy
Through the support of donors, Yosemite Conservancy provides grants and support to Yosemite National Park to help preserve and protect Yosemite today and for future generations. The work funded by Yosemite Conservancy is visible throughout the park, from trail rehabilitation to wildlife protection and habitat restoration. The Conservancy is dedicated to enhancing the visitor experience and providing a deeper connection to the park through outdoor programs, volunteering and wilderness services. Thanks to dedicated supporters, the Conservancy has provided more than $81 million in grants to Yosemite National Park. Learn more at www.yosemiteconservancy.org or call 1-800-469-7275.
