We first met W.S. Merwin, the renowned American poet, along with his wife Paula, in 1997 at their home and garden on the north shore of Maui. At that point they were twenty years into a mission to restore a degraded ecosystem, healing the land so that a lush 18-acre palm garden could thrive. William planted palms by hand every day.

We proposed doing a portfolio on their incredible work, at the time preparations were being made to transition the garden into a conservancy. Since Paula’s death in 2014 and William’s in 2019, preserving the legacy of their work has been entrusted to The Merwin Conservancy. The rare and endangered palms that live on in this garden are a testament that ecological renewal is possible.