Poetry. STRONG AS SILK is based on actual events that played out barely 20 years past the discovery of gold. Set in the rugged and remote Sierra foothills of California, it is the universal story of "stranger in a strange land," without reference to the specifics of place or time. Instead, it blends imagination with inference. Both created journal entries and traditional Japanese poetic forms are used to give insight into the daily dramas, large and small. The Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony has been compared to the early settlements of Plymouth and Jamestown in the Eastern United States, where optimistic and determined newcomers faced immense challenges in bringing their dreams to reality. Each lasted but a short time, but their impacts echo still. Within the historic time-markers of "start" and "end" lie stories of hope, conflict, loyalty and success, all elements of this varied and moving collection.
