George Nakashima, wood craftsman and poet, studied architecture at the University of Washington, Seattle, the Ecole Americaine des Beaux-Arts Fontainebleau in France and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He worked for Antonin Raymond. Nakashima received the gold medal for craftsmanship from the American Institute of Architects and the Hazlett Award.
The subject of several one-man exhibitions, Nakashima also authored The Soul of a Tree: A Woodworker's Reflections.