Dr. Gail Palmer has lived in Florida and New York, but has resided in Blount County. She is a native of this area and is tied to the Smoky Mountains through her maternal grandparents (John Marion Sparks and Elizabeth Shuler) who lived in Cades Cove, Tenn., now part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Palmer is dedicated to preserving the history and cultural heritage of those who lived in all the various communities that became GSMNP. She is working on a series of books that will tell stories of individuals who lived in the Smokies, how they made their living, how bad things sometimes happened, some through no fault of their own, others through consequences brought on by choices they made. This first volume tells of how the Park came into being, how individuals who owned the land reacted to the state taking their land for a national park, who fought the takeover and the result, how Park personnel shaped and managed the area, how it's doing now and how it might do in the future. The Smokies have been a coveted land, first by Native Americans, then by European settlers and their descendents and by the U. S. Government. No wonder many of those living in this area in the early 1900s dragged their feet, not wanting to give up the homes they'd fashioned out of the wilderness. And yet, many of those same individuals have said they were glad their beloved land is now part of a national park, preserved so that all can visit and enjoy.