Some pics and a couple quotes I really like from a fascinating 1970 LIFE magazine interview with George Nakashima, including a "Meditation on trees and the life of the spirit." "There is a special feeling to working with this wood. You realize how long these trees have lived, and it places you in a kind of upstart position. In their presence you feel humility instead of that arrogance that wants to conquer nature."

"What we are doing here is our reality. We have no axes to grind. But I think there are times when one should go underground when he can't stand what is going on in the outside world, and that is what we did a long time ago."

And of course, a post on the legendary furniture maker wouldn't be complete without a shot of one of his famous slab table tops, complete with live edges and butterfly keys - beautiful simplicity.