Author and park librarian-archivist Michael Aday used each letter in the collection, titled “Letters from the Smokies,” as the centerpiece of a chapter that offers additional context for a deeper look into the original writer’s world.

“I wrote this book with more than one reader in mind,” Aday said. “I think the first-time visitor to the Smokies who wants to know more about the history of the park and the region will find some great stories to engage them, while the seasoned visitor will hopefully learn some things they didn’t know before.”

Aday, whose job gives him access to nearly 1.4 million historic documents, quickly realized the greatest challenge in writing the book would be deciding what to leave out. The published book contains a core collection of 19 documents, reproduced and explained in the course of 160 pages. Stories feature a Tennessee woman who wrote about Southern life under a male pseudonym, celebrated ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson on an epic road trip that included the Smokies and a Smokies bobcat gifted to a U.S. president.

Drawing from centuries of archival records, Aday shares stories that aren’t often told in more general accounts of Smokies history.

The book is published by the Great Smoky Mountains Association and retails for $16.99 at bookstores in the park’s visitor centers and online at smokiesinformation.org.