Our Story Series: John D. Rockefeller, Jr.’s Crusade for the National Parks

Name: Our Story Series: John D. Rockefeller, Jr.’s Crusade for the National Parks
Start: 2025-08-28T18:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-08-28T19:30:00-04:00
Location: 159 Mills Park Rd. , Gatlinburg, TN, United States, Tennessee 37738

Schedule

Thu Aug 28 2025 at 06:00 pm to 07:30 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

159 Mills Park Rd. , Gatlinburg, TN, United States, Tennessee 37738 | Gatlinburg, TN

Welcome back, Gatlinburg! We are excited to continue with our successful “Our Story” series, where Appalachian stories are told and preserved. To kick off this new season, renowned writer and editor Steve Kemp will be our guest this August! Steve Kemp spent most of his adult life working in national parks. His career paths included a cook at a park concession, seasonal ranger, and over 30 years as an Interpretive Products and Services Director for the Great Smoky Mountains Association, now Smokies Life, an educational partner for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Kemp also has a successful writer’s program named for him, The Steve Kemp Writer’s Residency.
Steve Kemp graduated from the University of Montana and is the author of Great Smoky Mountains Simply Beautiful, Trees of the Smokies, The Blue Ridge Parkway: In Celebration of the American Landscape, and the children’s book, We’re Going to the Mountains. Kemp has also written articles for magazines National Parks, Outdoor Life, Outside, and Gatlinburg’s Smokies Life Journal.
Kemp is also a dedicated patron and former Board member here at the library and says, “National parks and public libraries are my two favorite institutions. I’m excited about giving a talk at beautiful Anna Porter Public Library with its outstanding Smoky Mountain book collection and archives and views of Mount Le Conte out front.”
This August, Kemp will be releasing his new book, An Exaltation of Parks: John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s Crusade to Save America’s Wonderlands. The book focuses on how John D. Rockefeller Jr. collaborated with renowned NPS figures Horace Albright, Stephen Mather, and Arno Cammerer to establish beautiful national parks in America. Kemp will be giving a talk about the importance of national parks and the challenges they face today at Anna Porter Public Library on Thursday, August 28, at 6:00 p.m. The presentation will be followed by Q&A, and books will be available to purchase and get signed! The event is FREE to attend, and you can go to the library’s website, annaporterpl.org, to RSVP to get email reminders. The library is located at 159 Mills Park Rd., Gatlinburg, TN, next to the schools on Highway 321.