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On Saturday afternoon at Descanso Gardens  in La Cañada Flintridge, the life and work of the late Japanese American poet Amy Uyematsu will be celebrated in an event that brings together family, friends, and fellow poets. “Celebration: A Tribute to Poet Amy Uyematsu,” to be held on March 23,  2 to 3:30 p.m., promises to be a poignant reflection on the enduring legacy of a poet whose work explored themes of politics, mathematics, spirituality, and the natural world. The Gardens will honor the poet’s impactful legacy. Local poets will join this afternoon of reflection and tribute, for the late poet who passed away last year.  Kim Sudhalter, the media representative for Descanso Gardens, said the Uyematsu family has a long history at Descanso with the family’s connection dating back to the 1940s. Amy Uyematsu’s grandfather, Francis Miyosaku Uyematsu, played a vital role in the gardens’ early history. Known in the horticultural circles of his time as “the Camellia King,” Francis Uyematsu was a Japanese American nurseryman in Los Angeles. When he was forced into internment camps. Uyematsu sold between 300,000 and 320,000 camellia plants to Manchester Boddy, then the owner of the Descanso Gardens land, for a fraction of their value, before he and his family were sent to Manzanar.  These plants, and more from the Mission Nursery run by the Yoshimura family, became Descanso Gardens’ first signature collection. A third-generation Japanese American, Amy Uyematsu explores themes of politics, mathematics, spirituality, and the natural world in her poetry. Her notable works include “That Blue Trickster Time” (2022), “Basic Vocabulary” (2016), “The Yellow Door” (2015), “Stone Bow Prayer” (2005), “Nights of Fire, Nights of Rain” (1997), and “30 Miles from J-Town” (1992), winner of the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize. Recognized for her contributions to the Japanese American community, Uyematsu co-edited the

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