An Immigrant Photographer's Story of Passion, Undeterred by Injustice

TAKOMA PARK, Md., May 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Midori Shimoda would have been the last person to have described his life as anything other than ordinary. Yet, it included: a three-week long, trans-Pacific, ocean crossing without family or friends at the age of nine; a perilous evacuation from California immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor; refuge with a Mormon family in Utah; arrests for suspected espionage; and federal internment he had so earnestly sought to avoid.  Amazingly, his path intersected with an extraordinary assortment of individuals, including Grace Kelly, Fay Wray, J. Edgar Hoover, William Randolph Hearst and Betty Hutton.

"This is an unusual story of passion, resourcefulness and diligence for sharing beauty through the lens of a camera," shares co-author and Midori's daughter, Risa Shimoda. "However, the project began after meeting my father's roommate, fifty-seven years after he'd inadvertently contributed to Midori's first incarceration: the remorse he still carried brought into sharp relief for me that this story needed to be shared."

Co-author Bob Fleshner adds, "Our goal in researching and writing this book was simple: to share with the world the story of an extraordinary man who went about his business in an extraordinary time no matter how high the odds were stacked against him, wanting nothing more than to excel at his craft and show love for his family." 

About the Authors
Risa Shimoda is the granddaughter of individuals who immigrated to the US during the mid-1880s.  One learned a trade after escaping servitude on a pineapple plantation in Hawaii; the other emigrated to assist the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad.  Risa grew up in Dumont, NJ as her dad established a photography studio in New York City.  She serves as the Executive Director of the River Management Society, and has written for and been featured in the International Journal of Wilderness, American Whitewater Journal, Canoe & Kayak, Paddler Magazine. Kayak Session, and Blue Ridge Outdoors.

Bob Fleshner is an executive career coach who has spent decades observing and attempting to understand human behavior. Bob spent the majority of the early part of his career as an attorney for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and Walt Disney's World on Ice. During his tenure there, Bob spent hours digesting the amazing stories of those with whom he came in contact and honed his own story telling skills, which he put to use both as CEO for a division of a Fortune 50 company, and as the owner and operator of his own small business.  Bob writes a regular business blog and he has been featured in The Washington Post and on WTOP radio in Washington, DC. 

Contact
Risa Shimoda +1 301 502 6548
Bob Fleshner + 1 301 520 9511
R&B Press
[email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/RandBPress/
https://www.amazon.com/Photographic-Memories-Risa-Shimoda-Fleshner-ebook/dp/B086WRK6LG/ 

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SOURCE Risa Shimoda