George Masa (1885 – 1933) was born in Tokyo, the second son of  Mr. Takahashi, adopted by Yasushi Endo, a prominent lawyer in Shizuoka, Japan.

[7] After initially working at the Grove Park Inn in the laundry room and as a valet; he began developing film for the wealthy hotel guests.

[8] In 1918, he was hired by Asheville photographer Herbert Pelton where Masa continued his Kodak finishing business and “learned so many things [in] all branches of photography.

His customers included some of the town's most affluent citizens such as the Vanderbilt, Grove, and Seely families as well as the architect Douglas Ellington and the artist William Waldo Dodge, Jr.[1] Angelyn Whitmeyer has compiled a database of Masa print photographs along with photo description pages.

Arno Cammerer who became the 3rd director of the National Park Service wrote that Masa was the “best mountaineer on the North Carolina side.”[12] Using his photographic equipment and an odometer he crafted from an old bicycle, Masa was an important contributor to the North Carolina Nomenclature Committee charged with confirming and establishing names  of peaks, creeks, and geographical features within the borders of the proposed national park and then reconciling names along the state border with the Tennessee group.

Kephart wrote that all of Masa's work exploring, mapping, and photographing were done “out of sheer loyalty to the park idea and a fine sense of scenic values.”[13] His maps and his trail work were lauded by Appalachian Trail leader Myron Avery; his photographs sent to the governors of North Carolina and Tennessee and to First Lady Grace Coolidge.

The guidebook featured a welcome message from Horace Albright, director of the National Park Service, who wrote “George Masa, its co-author, knows and loves the region well.

Members of the Carolina Mountain Club covered the arrangements and costs for Masa's casket, funeral, and burial in Asheville's Riverside Cemetery.

[21] Also, the fourth episode of Ken Burns's documentary about "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" features Masa (entitled "Going Home," covering the period between 1920 and 1933), which was initially broadcast on September 30, 2009.

After conducting groundbreaking research in the US and Japan, McCue and Bonesteel tell the fascinating story of an immigrant who endured scrutiny from the Bureau of Investigation, harassment from the Ku Klux Klan, and the collapse of the economy, his business, and his health—all while making it his life's goal to champion conservation in Southern Appalachia.