Steve Kemp – An Exaltation of Parks: John D Rockefeller’s Crusade to Save America’s Wonderlands

Steve Kemp will give an overview of his recent book “An Exaltation of Parks: John D. Rockefeller’s Crusade to Save America’s Wonderlands.”

Over a third of the book is about the creation of the Smokies, but also includes JDR Jr.’s philanthropy for Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, the Blue Ridge Parkway and over a dozen other national parks. The purpose of the book is to encourage partnerships that help parks.

As we approach the Smokies centennial, it’s important to remember the wildly successful collaboration that created GSMNP.

Author Steve Kemp has spent most of his adult life working in national parks, from cook at a park concession in the Grand Tetons to a seasonal ranger in Yellowstone and Denali to publications director for nonprofit park education partner Great Smoky Mountains Association (now Smokies Life). A graduate of the University of Montana’s writing program, Kemp has written for magazines including National Parks, Outside, Outdoor Life, and Smokies Life Journal, and is the author of Trees of the Smokies,Great Smoky Mountains Simply Beautiful, The Blue Ridge Parkway: In Celebration of the American Landscape (forthcoming) and the children’s book, We’re Going to the Mountains.